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In the most pessimistic outlook in more than a decade, a global survey of CEOs on Monday showed 73 % of them expected the global economic growth to decline over the next 12 months.

Releasing the annual survey on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, PwC said this is a significant departure from the optimistic outlook of 2021 and 2022 when more than two-thirds thought economic growth would improve.

This is the most pessimistic CEOs have been regarding global economic growth since PwC began asking this question 12 years ago.

The survey further showed that nearly 40 % of CEOs do not believe their organisations would be economically viable in 10 years if they do not transform.

Inflation, macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical conflict ranked as the top global threats while cyber and health risks fell from a year ago.

The survey also showed that companies are cutting costs but do not plan yet to reduce headcount or salaries in their fight to retain talent following the ‘great resignation’.

Leaders in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were found to be less optimistic about domestic growth than the global growth compared to those in the United States, Brazil, India, and China.

The 26th annual survey was conducted among 4,410 CEOs from 105 countries and territories, including 68 CEOs from India, between October and November 2022.