Ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Formation	1949
Merger of	Süddeutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Informations- und Forschungsstelle of the Bavarian Statistical Office
Legal status	Eingetragener Verein
Headquarters	Munich, Dresden
Location	Munich, Germany
Coordinates	48°09′10″N 11°36′18″E / 48.152842°N 11.605011°E / 48.152842; 11.605011
President	Clemens Fuest
Affiliations	Center for Economic Studies University of Munich
Staff	193 employees
Website	www.ifo.de

The Ifo Institute for Economic Research is a Munich-based research institution. Ifo is an acronym from Information and Forschung (research). As one of Germany's largest economic think-tanks, it analyses economic policy and is known for its monthly Ifo Business Climate Index for Germany. According to its 2021 report 217 employees work for the organisation.^[1] The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ranks it as Germany's most influential economics research institute.^[2]

Ifo Business Climate Index

Ifo's Business Climate Index is an early indicator of economic activity released monthly since 1972. The database underlying the index is a monthly survey of 7000 in the construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail industries. The index is closely followed by investors, commentators and politics.^[3][4]

Report on the German economy

The Ifo Institute participates in the twice yearly (spring and autumn) joint analysis of the state of the German and world economy, the so-called Gemeinschaftsdiagnose.^[5]