Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of CEOs believe global economic growth will decline over the next 12 months, according to PwC's 26th Annual Global CEO Survey, which polled 4,410 CEOs in 105 countries and territories in October and November 2022. The number is lower (62 per cent) for CEOs in the Caribbean.

The bleak CEO outlook is the most pessimistic CEOs have been regarding global economic growth since we began asking this question 12 years ago. Those expectations represented a stark reversal from the last Caribbean participation in the survey (conducted in 2020), when a similar proportion (69 per cent) thought economic growth would improve.

Caribbean CEOs: organisations will not be economically viable

In addition to a challenging environment, nearly one third of Caribbean CEOs think their organisations will not be economically viable in a decade if they continue on their current path. The pattern is consistent with global (39 per cent) and Latin America (29 per cent) though slightly higher than the US (20 per cent), UK (22 per cent) and Canada (24 per cent). Caribbean CEOs' confidence in their own company's growth prospects also declined dramatically (by over 40 per cent) with less than half being very or extremely confident compared to the survey conducted in 2020 where almost 80 per cent were either somewhat confident or very confident about their organisation's prospects for revenue growth over the next year.

CEOs are also seeing multiple direct challenges to profitability within their own industries over the next 10 years. Seventy-six per cent believe changing customer demand/preferences will impact profitability, followed by changes in regulation (64 per cent) and technology disruptions (60 per cent).

Inflation, volatility, climate change top concerns

While cyber and health risks were the top concerns for Caribbean CEOs the last time they participated in the survey, the impact of the economic downturn is top-of-mind for CEOs this year, with inflation (50per cent) and macroeconomic volatility (36 per cent) leading the risks weighing on CEOs in the short-term - the next 12 months - and over the next five years. Close behind, 26 per cent also feel financially exposed to climate change rising to be the top threat over the next 5 years. Cyber risks have fallen dramatically to just 14per cent and although they increase to 26 per cent in the medium term, CEOs need to continue to show their commitment to stay ahead of cyber challenges that are still very much on the rise, so they safeguard their business against attacks.

Cutting costs but not headcount or compensation

In response to the current economic climate, Caribbean CEOs are looking to cut costs and spur revenue growth. Sixty two per cent report reducing operating costs, while 58 per cent report diversifying product and service offerings and 44 per cent raising prices. However, 66 per cent say they do not plan to reduce the size of their workforce in the next 12