CEO confidence index hits 80 as GDP growth forecast cools

Nearly 90% of local leaders remain upbeat about the economy over the next 12 months.

The majority of CEO’s in Singapore are optimistic about the local economy over the next 12 months, despite growing uncertainty due to trade tensions, volatility and muted global economic projections.

According to the latest EY-Parthenon CEO Outlook Survey, 90% of CEO from the city-state are expecting an upbeat economy, up from 88% three months ago.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has said that the local economy may grow from 1.0% to 3.0% this year. This is lower than the 2025 expansion at 4.8%, due to various factors such as lower economic growth for Singapore’s trading partners, and trade tensions.

“The survey’s CEO Confidence Index – a measure from 1 to 100 that quantifies CEO sentiment globally across a wide range of business dimensions – shows that overall CEO sentiment amongst Singapore respondents remained stable at 80, compared with 81.5 three months ago,” EY-Parthenon said.

“This demonstrates a quiet confidence amongst the respondents, despite growing uncertainty in today’s business landscape, which is characterised by geopolitical tensions, persistent volatility, a muted global economic forecast, supply-chain disruption and rising cost pressures,” it added.

This optimism is also reflected in the CEO’s revenue expectations, with 28% expecting their companies to post 10% to 19.9% growth in the next 12 months. There were also 65% who expect 3% to 9.9% increase in their annual revenue growth, and 5% who projected a flat revenue movement.

This year’s revenue expansion and productivity gains are expected to push profitability in 2026, even if 50% of them anticipate increases in operating costs.

“This confidence is powered by investments being made into talent and technology transformation, with CEOs recognising that one-off change isn’t enough and are driving continuous, proactive transformation to sustain growth,” EY-Parthenon said.

The top priorities for CEOs this year are reducing cost and unlocking savings (43%), innovating products and processes (31%) and improving customer engagement and retention amidst shifting consumer behaviour (31%).

The next 12 months are also seen to be a turning point for artificial intelligence (AI) investments as 65% of Singapore respondents expecting this technology to be a major growth engine in the next two years. About a third also believe it will fundamentally reshape operations as they scale these technologies enterprise-wide.

Half of the CEOs in the city-state said they have started and the other half said they are planning to begin implementing “significant transformation initiatives this year in a bid to extract value and growth.”

Chief executives in Singapore are also optimistic about their ability to attract and retain talent, especially those that have key roles in AI adoption.

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, the survey found that all Singapore respondents are looking to pursue transactions over the next 12 months. Interest in joint ventures and strategic alliances continues to be strong, with 80% of Singapore respondents currently planning initiatives.

The top five investment destinations for the Singapore CEO respondents are Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and the Philippines. The key outcomes that they focus on in these transactions are enhancing operations and productivity (83%), reducing cost and unlocking savings (61%) and accelerating top-line growth (50%).