CEO confidence in the world economic outlook

Confidence

Find out what CEOs think about their prospects for revenue growth, as the economic outlook and ever-widening range of threats continue to test even the strongest organisations.

Video: CEO views on confidence

Infographic: disruptions over time

The world economic outlook is enough to test even the strongest organisations. The Eurozone is still mired in recession. The US economy is expected to grow by just 2.2% this year. The BRIC countries are seeing a slowdown. And over half of CEOs think the global economy will stay the same in 2013 – though this is a more positive outlook than last year, when nearly half were convinced the economy would contract.

But it’s not only the economy that’s challenging. Disruptions of all kinds are taking place, and they’re spreading further and happening more often. The past decade alone has seen a number of major disruptions, including man-made and natural catastrophes, financial and health crises, and technological upheavals. In short, improbable risks aren’t so improbable anymore. In this era of ‘stable instability’, it’s easy to understand why CEO confidence in business growth prospects has also been so volatile.

Explore the survey data

Want to know more?

Use the data explorer to browse survey questions and compare country and industry results.

Launch the data explorer

CEO interview quotes

"It’s hard to see the global economy doing anything other than going sideways in the next 12 months or so. Over the next three years, if one is optimistic and we avoid some sort of major financial event, maybe there’s some light at the end of the tunnel."

Alex Arena
Group Managing Director of HKT Ltd.

"During the past, we saw significant growth in Europe, but that growth was largely fuelled by debt. Now, in order to move from growth that is fuelled by debt, to growth that is fuelled by investment and productivity, we need to change labour relations. We’re very much in need of deep structural changes."

Dr. John Coustas
President and Chief Executive Officer of Danaos Corporation

"It’s more useful to view things over the long-term; tough economic times will eventually be followed by a period of growth. My own view is that Asia and Africa are going to be key drivers of future global growth."

Yasuchika Hasegawa
President and Chief Executive Officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.

"No one has a crystal ball, so we think in scenarios and not in certainties."

Yves Serra
President and Chief Executive Officer of Georg Fischer Ltd.

"Recession has adversely affected the national economies of certain countries but, all in all, I would assess the current condition of the global economy as stable rather than regressive or fraught with catastrophe."

Andrei Dubovskov
President and Chief Executive Officer of MTS OJSC

"We see challenges in 2013 everywhere, but we see opportunities too."

Doug Tough
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.

"We believe that the economy globally will grow, but only slowly. In Europe growth in 2013 will be very slow. In Germany growth in the first half of 2013 will not be very positive, but will pick up later in the year and going forward."

Martin Blessing
Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank AG

"Although the world’s economy is recovering, I think that we are going to see growth at a lower level than the long term global trend over the next two or three years."