Survey shows gains in North America and Asia Pacific can’t prevent overall fall in global confidence
The latest Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) from ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) reveals that confidence among African accountants fell sharply in Q3 2025 following some recovery in Q1 and Q2. However, confidence in the region seems to be on an improving trend this year and remains above its historical average.
Jamil Ampomah, Director – Africa at ACCA said: ‘All in all, despite the recent quarterly volatility, our key indicators generally seem to point to some improvement in the economic backdrop for the region in 2025. Indeed, a number of countries are benefiting from improvements in the inflationary backdrop, a firming of their currencies against the US dollar, and declining central bank interest rates.’
The survey’s other key indicators also declined and suggest some caution regarding global economic prospects. The Global New Orders Index saw a second consecutive fall, placing it at its lowest level in the post-pandemic period, although it is not particularly depressed by historical standards. The Capital Expenditure Index is at its weakest since the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the subdued Employment Index attests to sluggish job markets in a number of economies. Caution also seemed to be the order of the day among chief financial officers in our survey.
Jonathan Ashworth, Chief Economist, ACCA, said: ‘The global economy proved more resilient than expected in the first half of 2025, despite the major disruptions to international trade. However, all our key indicators declined by varying degrees in Q3. While the readings don’t necessarily indicate that a major slowdown is imminent, they nonetheless point to the risk of some slowing in global growth over the next few quarters.’
‘Developments in the U.S. economy and policy, as well as international trade and geopolitics, remain key areas of uncertainty for the coming months.’
Some important regions saw improvements in confidence. While North America enjoyed a strong rise – aided in part by another improvement in sentiment among U.S. accountants – confidence in the region remains at a low level and the forward-looking New Orders Index experienced a large drop to reach its lowest point since the height of the pandemic in Q2 2020.
Alain Mulder, Senior Director, Europe Operations & Global Special Projects at IMA said: ‘Uncertainty persists on the prospects for the U.S. economy. The jobs market has slowed, but GDP growth was likely solid again in Q3. Overall, our indicators point to quite a challenging economic backdrop and suggest the risk is for some slowing in growth over coming months. But with monetary policy set to become less restrictive, stock markets at record highs, and strength in AI-related investment likely to continue, a major slowdown is not a central-case scenario’.
Asia Pacific’s confidence rise may be attributed to the resilience of the global economy and some decline in tariff-related uncertainty. By contrast, confidence fell quite sharply in Western Europe, amid a large decline in the UK. Fears about large tax rises in the upcoming Budget are likely weighing on UK accountants’ sentiment.
Meanwhile, it is no surprise that economic pressures continue to dominate risk perceptions among accountants globally, closely followed by geopolitical uncertainty. Cybersecurity was also ranked highly, reflecting its systemic reach across sectors and regions, with the survey revealing cyber risk is no longer just a challenge for IT teams – it has become a governance and cultural issue.
