CEOs worldwide confident about growth reviving after pandemic: PwC survey

The pandemic coupled with other health crises remains the top threat for companies in 2021, say executives

Chief executive officers are more confident of revenue growth than they have been in years, said an annual global survey.

Around 36 per cent of global chief executives see growth over the next year. Around 47 per cent are bullish on growth over a three-year period. The one-year expectations are more bullish than before the pandemic. The three-year forecast is the most bullish since 2017 (see chart 1).

This comes even as there has been a reordering of risk after Covid-19. The pandemic coupled with other health crises is the top threat for companies in 2021, with over half of those surveyed being "extremely concerned" regarding it as a threat to growth (see chart 2). The top threats in the previous year were over-regulation, trade conflict and uncertain economic growth.

The data is based on tax and consultancy services network PwC’s 24th Annual Global CEO Survey. It polled over 5,000 chief executives in over a hundred countries and territories in the first two months of the year.  

The majority of Indian chief executives expect to see stronger economic growth over the next twelve months, according to Sanjeev Krishan, chairperson of PwC in India. Around 76 per cent of global CEOs feel the same way about the growth of the global economy. This is a record figure for the years that the survey has been conducted, according to the survey report.