Article search

Geopolitics can bring about volatility in inflation and in the rest of the economy. However, geopolitical surprises and their consequences are not particularly well understood yet in economics. The impact of such surprises on euro area inflation nevertheless varies case by case.

Employment has grown strongly in the euro area since 2020. This has been attributable to both demand and supply factors. In the near future, population ageing will reduce the supply of labour in the euro area. The impact of population ageing will nevertheless be softened by a rise in the labour force participation rate, work-based immigration and a reduction in structural unemployment.

A considerable proportion of the corporate loan stock in the euro area consists of loans with a fixed – rather than a variable – rate of interest. However, this proportion differs by industry and even more so by country. In Germany and France, the majority of corporate loans are tied to a fixed rate. In Finland, the proportion of fixed rate loans is small.