It is important that we keep an eye on the Global Economic Sentiment, since ours is a very open economy, which heavily rests on the performance of various foreign economies we trade with.

Notwithstanding the fact that many countries around the world are fighting a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, research undertaken in October 2020 is showing that the Global Economic Sentiment have so far remained more positive than negative, though optimism on the global economy has tempered (see below).

As can be seen above, the share of respondents expecting global conditions to improve has decreased in October 2020, whilst the share predicting that conditions will stay the same has increased since in October 2020 over the previous month. The share of those expecting worsening conditions—which remained at the lowest level since the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic in March—has not changed.

But this is a global view. What about the economic sentiment per world region? This is where we see some important differences.

As can be seen below, whilst in China positive sentiments are still more common, the outlook has moderated is Europe. In fact, Europe has become the only region in which respondents are more likely to expect their countries’ economic conditions to decline than to improve (See below).

What about the economic sentiment of businesses are the globe?

Research done in October 2020 is indicating that international Business Leaders have positive expectations, with the share of these Business Leaders who have positive expectations for profits and demand being the largest since the pandemic was declared (See below).

As can be seen above, the 55% of respondents expecting their companies’ profits to increase in the coming months is more than double the share who said so six months ago. A similar share—56% predict that customer demand will increase. Maybe this buoyant sentiment is based on the expectation that an effective COVID vaccine will be available by end 2020 or early 2021.

At EMCS, we are fully setup to offer market research services based on decades of experience offering this service to public, private and international entities. In a period like this one, whereby things are changing drastically each day, effecting consumer sentiment, purchasing patterns and economic sentiment, it is important that you research your market thoroughly and on a continuous basis. Feel free to contact me on: silvan.mifsud@emcs.com.mt to have a chat.