Policy and insights report
Confidence among global accountants remains fragile despite Q2 rise
The ACCA and IMA Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) showed improving global confidence in Q2 2025 (see chart below), with the index reaching its highest since Q3 2024. That said, confidence among accountants is still at a low level by historical standards.
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Confidence in North America rose in Q2 (see chart below), amid some improvement in sentiment among US-based accountants, but it remains depressed by historical standards.
There was another moderate gain in confidence in Western Europe, aided by a further improvement in the UK from its record low in Q4 2024. By contrast, there was a sharp fall in confidence in Asia Pacific, erasing the gains made in Q1 2025.
The deterioration in the backdrop for global trade, amid major changes in US trade policy, was likely the key factor weighing on sentiment.
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Global cost pressures eased according to accountants, although there are divergent regional pressures. The proportion of North American respondents reporting increased operating costs eased slightly, although it remains on the high side historically after the large increase in Q1 (see chart below), raising the risk that firms may attempt to raise prices over coming months. Except for Western Europe, cost pressures don’t look concerning in the other regions.
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For the first time, geopolitics topped accountants' global risk priorities in Q2. Economic fears tied with regulatory and compliance risks as the second highest risk priority.
Talent scarcity and cybersecurity remain critical, but were slightly less prominent this quarter. Climate change, fraud and supply chain risks remained lower down the agenda for respondents, suggesting a renewed focus on macro-external volatility, with boards and executives reacting to intensifying global conflicts, regulatory unpredictability and economic pressure.
Running since 2011, GECS – carried out jointly by ACCA and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) – remains the world’s largest regular survey of accountants, both in terms of the number of respondents and the range of economic variables monitored.
GECS provides global and regional analysis of:
- North America
- Western Europe
- Africa
- Asia Pacific
- Middle East
- South Asia.
Policy and insights report
"While the key GECS indicators are certainly not pointing to a global economy in rude health, with confidence in particular remaining low, neither are they suggesting that a major downswing is imminent. Nevertheless, with higher tariffs likely to push US inflation higher over coming months, and as uncertainty and tariffs weigh on the US and global economies, some slowing in global growth looks likely over the second half of 2025"
Jonathan Ashworth, chief economist, ACCA
