A total of 631 chartered accounts and C level executives in over 50 countries were polled for their views.

Based on a 2025 survey* of 631 accountants and business leaders from around 50 countries conducted by a global professional body for accountants, on the outlook for global trade, some findings were shared with the media.

First, 85% of respondents cited worries over impacts of American tariffs on their organizations, and 56% indicated expectations of increasing global trade ‘significantly’ or ‘somewhat’ over the next three to five years. In contrast, 23% had cited they anticipated some decrease in trade.

Increase, and 29% a moderate increase, in their firms’ global trade; 19% expected some decline.

Other findings

Third, respondents ranked the top risks to global trade outlooks over the coming years as comprising geopolitical tensions (38%), international or civil conflicts (32%), and protectionist policies in advanced economies (26%). Also:

  • Around half the respondents cited technology use, especially AI, as the leading opportunity to facilitate global trade. Other key opportunities cited included diversifying production/investment or supplier locations (37%) and gaining access to new technologies (31%).
  • 60% of respondents indicated having moved some production, investment, or supplier locations in recent years, with 61% planning further moves soon, mostly through onshoring, offshoring, nearshoring, or friendshoring.
  • About 31% said costs increased more than 10% due to trade changes; 46% expected costs to rise by up to 10% in the coming years. Responses to these costs included seeking alternative suppliers (55%), efficiency gains (50%), and raising prices (49%).
  • 38% of respondents strongly agreed to prompts that open trade is beneficial for their organization; 41% responded to the same prompt with casual agreement. Agreement was higher among respondents in multinationals (83%) and those in C-suite positions.

According to Jonathan Ashworth, Chief Economist, ACCA, the current year has be plagued with monumental changes, “with the US raising its import tariffs to their highest level since the 1930s. The global economy has so far proved more resilient than expected to the disruptions in global trade, but the risk is for some slowing over coming quarters…”

*No time period was disclosed about the survey or the exact number of countries involved. Most of the survey questions featured in the report had over 500 responses. Of these, CEOs and CFOs/finance directors generally accounted for around 45% of responses, and C-suite executives as a whole almost two-thirds of responses. The largest number of responses came from the UK and mainland China with around 240 and 60 responses respectively. Multinationals accounted for over 80% of responses.