C-suite barometer: outlook 2025

Featuring insights from key Forvis Mazars and external industry experts, this year’s study reveals a positive but challenging outlook for growth among C-suite leaders and a determination to continue growing amid the mounting impact of heightened competition and increasing geopolitical instability.

Key findings

• The majority (93%) of C-suite leaders worldwide have a positive growth outlook for their organisations – consistent with 2024 (94%) and up from 86% in 2023.   
• Increased competition and heightened geopolitical instability and are now the two biggest rising trends holding back growth for executives – 35% (up 13 points) and 30% (up eight points from 2024), respectively.   
• Organisations in the Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences and Energy & Infrastructure sectors confirm increased competition as the number one factor expected to hold back growth.    
• Economic uncertainty remains a concern and is expected to have the biggest impact on organisations (39%) followed by increased competition (33%).   
• C-suite leaders in the TMT sector recognise increased competition as having the biggest impact on their organisation – a rise from ninth place in 2024 (20%) to second in 2025 (38%).   
• More than four in five businesses (83%) plan to expand to at least one new country in the next five years, with over 40% targeting three or more new countries.​   
• Just under half (43%) of organisations continue to report a struggle to recruit talented people.  

While it’s encouraging to see a positive growth outlook for businesses, achieving growth in 2025 will mean navigating a number of key uncertainties. The overarching challenge will be maintaining strategic priorities and a clear vision amid new market entrants, continuing technological disruption and potential market turbulence if C-suite executives are to cut through increasing competition and lead their businesses to success in 2025.