The business information and research firm Dun & Bradstreet recently released its inaugural Global Business Optimism Insights report analyzing the third quarter of 2023.

The report showed that the Global Business Supply Chain Continuity Index, which monitors the efficiency of suppliers’ deliveries in terms of time and cost, fell by 5.8% from Q2 to Q3 to an index value of 50.6. A score above 50 indicates improvement while a score below 50 is a sign of deterioration.

Dun & Bradstreet also found that midsized businesses were slightly more optimistic than small and large-sized companies and that global demand is expected to weaken.

Almost a third of respondents (27%) believe economic uncertainty is the biggest threat to their supply chain’s continuity. Another 21% of responders think that regulatory challenges (e.g.: new tariffs) and non-tariff measures in the ESG space pose the biggest threat to supply chain continuity.

Overall, the study found that the global economy is expected to grow this quarter, albeit at a slower rate than it did in Q2 2023 due to a decline in activity amongst advanced economies. The global economic slowdown was caused by “unprecedented monetary tightening,” which was originally enacted to control inflation rates in certain countries.

Still, most businesses that participated in the survey are planning to expand their technology investments by 2% to 6%.

“The global economy will now enter a phase of greater policy divergence, as was witnessed when some key central banks chose different paths regarding interest rates,” the report said. “In addition, a key divergence that could emerge is between monetary and fiscal policy as governments try to protect jobs and livelihoods during the impending slowdown.”

Data for Dun & Bradstreet's Global Business Optimism Insights report was collected from a survey of 10,000 respondents across varying sectors in 32 different economies.