It's official - Germans worst pessimists in Europe

A share trader reacts in front of his trading terminal during early morning trading at the German stock exchange in Frankfurt, November 20, 2008.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans are generally more pessimistic about the future than any other Europeans, according to a study by two of the country's research institutes.

The survey found only 30 percent of Germans believe they will be better off in five years, a figure below the average across the 27 countries of the European Union.

It was conducted by the Social Sciences Research Centre Berlin (WZB) and Centre for Survey Research and Methodology in Mannheim (ZUMA).

"It could be something in the German culture," Heinz-Herbert Noll, a senior researcher at ZUMA, told Reuters on Thursday. "We've all heard of the German 'angst', after all."

In Britain, 51 percent were optimistic about the next five years while in Estonia the future was even brighter. They topped the table, with 65 percent having a positive five-year outlook.

The survey of thousands of Europeans -- which was conducted before the global financial crisis hit -- found people in former East Germany were even more pessimistic than those in the west.

Noll said even though Germany was one of Europe's more prosperous nations, people were full of doom and gloom.

"Compared to other countries, income levels in Germany are stagnant, and people are concerned about their future financial situation," he said. Noll said he did not expect the Germans to become more optimistic in the near future.

"I don't know if I'm just naturally pessimistic because I'm German, but with the financial crisis I just can't see people getting any more optimistic any time soon," Noll said.

Also near the bottom of the scale with large percentages of pessimists are the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria while Scandinavian countries, Ireland and Estonia are among the most optimistic, the survey found.