FT-Economist Business Barometer

Carried out four times a year for the FT and The Economist by the Economist Intelligence Unit and based on interviews with more than 1,700 business executives around the world, the barometer highlights the change in business sentiment and differences between regions and sectors.

The Barometer showed that executives in North America and Europe had grown less pessimistic about the global economy, while their peers in emerging markets remain gloomy.

Methodology

Based on a global survey of the Economist Intelligence Unit executive panel. Respondents are selected from a cross-section of industries, company sizes, and represent a range of senior roles. The survey was conducted online.

• Almost half of the executives surveyed were in the so-called c-suite – they held jobs at the very top of companies with titles that include the word “chief” – and almost half of the companies they worked for have a turnover of more than $500m.
• More than a quarter of the executives who responded work for companies that operate in more than 25 countries.
• Over 30 per cent of the companies surveyed were Western European, more than a quarter were from the Asia-Pacific region, nearly 20 per cent from North America and the rest from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and eastern Europe.

The survey, conducted for The Economist and the Financial Times by the Economist Intelligence Unit, was carried out online.

The November 2011 edition of the Barometer can be found here

The August 2011 edition of the Barometer can be found here.

The May 2011 edition of the Barometer can be found here.