Hamburg, January 16^th, 2020 – Statista and Atheneum have released the results for the Global Economic Outlook Score Q4 2019, a survey with 1,200 leading experts worldwide. Satisfaction regarding the economy across the globe remains stable and the outlook for the next six months is cautiously optimistic. In the U.S. business experts are currently very satisfied with the state of their nation’s economy, reporting a net Satisfaction Score of +62%. However, this is a slight drop from the previous quarter’s satisfaction rating of +68%. Further to this, U.S. experts, generally, do not believe there will be any improvement to the economy over the next six months. When asked if they thought the economy would improve or deteriorate, they provided a net Outlook Score of 0%. Improving, however, on last quarter’s -11%.

Dissatisfaction at 49% for rail infrastructure, only 38% dissatisfied with the general level of infrastructure in the U.S.

With 49%, nearly half of U.S. business experts interviewed for the GEO Score Q4 2019, are dissatisfied with the level of rail infrastructure, compared to just 22% who are satisfied. However, this is not in line with how experts feel about infrastructure in general. 42% of experts say they are satisfied with the general level of infrastructure in the U.S. while 38% say they are not. When focusing on the transport network specifically, 38% are satisfied compared to 31% who are dissatisfied. Concentrating on the individual aspects of transport, satisfaction with aviation (65%) and shipping (61%) is high, while 45% are satisfied with regards to the road network.

Across the globe, experts remain satisfied and cautiously optimistic

Globally, experts are generally happy with their country's economic situation, resulting in a Global Satisfaction Score of +37%, predominantly driven by North America (+61%). Dropping from 49% in Q2, it remained stable in the second half of the year (Q3: +35%). Most satisfied with their current situation are mostly countries found in Western Europe. Swiss and Dutch experts report net Satisfaction Scores of +98% and +88% respectively with Germany at +70%. These remain comparable to previous quarters. The least satisfied countries can be found in Latin America, with a -43% net Satisfaction Score for this region. But this does not dampen the Global Outlook Score this quarter, as it is now at +4% compared to -3% in Q3. This change has been particularly driven by renewed and increased confidence in Australia, China, Germany, the UK and the U.S.

Strong election result sees stability brought back to the UK

After a period of Brexit uncertainty, the result of the UK election seems to have given business experts in the UK some clarity. The UK saw the biggest individual change in their Outlook Score. When asked if they expected the economy to improve or deteriorate over the next 6 months, for Q3 the UK had the lowest net Outlook Score at -56%. This has shifted to +5% in Q4. This rapid improvement has been mirrored throughout individual aspects of the economy. Especially political stability saw the most drastic swing: The score improved by 68 percentage points from negative 49% in Q3 to positive 19% in Q4. Also, for capital expenditure, which was -24% in Q3 and rose to +15% in Q4. Even though all aspects of the economy saw an improvement, they remained with negative Outlook Scores. There is still some work to be done to convince UK experts they are out of the woods, just yet.

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About Statista

Founded in Germany in 2007, Statista has about 700 employees at ten office locations on four continents. Statista is a leading data and business intelligence portal which conducts international market and consumer studies as well as surveys. The business model "data as a service" is unique with no direct competitors in the market

About Atheneum

Atheneum is a global insights platform with a network of over 500,000 of the world’s leading industry experts form Life Science & Healthcare, Energy & Utilities and Consumer Goods. Founded in 2010, Atheneum currently employs 350 people across 10 offices around the world.