Shifting Tides: How Global Instability is Shaping Business Confidence

As reported by Dun & Bradstreet, businesses worldwide are increasingly worried about a stagnant economy, escalating costs, and political unrest. In fact,optimism within the business sector took a hit of over 1% during the second quarter of 2025.

Dun & Bradstreet conducts quarterly assessments on the sentiments of around 10,000 companies across five key areas: business optimism, supply chain stability, financial confidence, investment outlooks, and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) practices. Their latest findings reveal that financial confidence plummeted by an alarming 23.2% in Q2 alone. Additionally,supply chain stability saw a decline of 8.2%. Notably in the U.S., business optimism fell by more than 3%, with similar downturns observed in Mexico (-3.7%), Japan (-2.6%), and South Korea experiencing an even steeper drop at -11.3%.

“These results highlight the important challenges businesses are currently facing due to economic strains, geopolitical tensions, and evolving consumer demands,” stated Edgar Randall from Dun & Bradstreet in a release dated June 2.