Dutch findings

PwC's 21st CEO Survey: The anxious optimist in the corner office

Dutch CEOs are still optimistic and concerned

Dutch CEOs are optimistic about economic growth prospects. The Dutch results of the CEO Survey show that a majority of CEOs expect global economic growth over the next twelve months. A vast majority of the Dutch CEOs is (very to somewhat) confident about the prospects of their own company. Dutch CEOs also have concerns, not only about developments that affect their markets, but also about the economic, political and social environment in which they operate. The Dutch outcomes are essentially in line with global outcomes and last year’s outcomes.

Key findings

  • Just like last year, CEOs have mixed feelings about the effects of globalization. Moreover, a majority of CEOs see a trend towards a fragmented world. Only 15% of the respondents see the world moving towards a single global marketplace. 78%, on the other hand, see a movement towards regional trading blocs. According to a majority of CEOs, legal systems and value systems are also diverging rather than moving towards one global system.
  • Dutch CEOs indicate that their human resource strategy is focused on strengthening digital skills and retraining, but also on further developing soft skills. Delivering the corporate purpose is leading in making decisions on the automation of tasks and jobs.
  • Dutch CEOs consider cyber threats (86% extremely to somewhat concerned), the availability of key skills (74%), and the speed of technological changes (68%), as the most important potential business threats.
  • If we look at potential economic, political, and social threats, Dutch CEOs are most (very to somewhat) concerned about over-regulation (84%), populism (84%), and geopolitical uncertainty (80%).
  • 67% of Dutch CEOs believe that global economic growth will improve over the next twelve months. 26% of the respondents think the size of the economy will stay the same.
  • 40% of Dutch CEOs is very confident about their own organisation’s prospects for revenue growth over the next twelve months. 49% is somewhat confident about this.

Explore the data

Use our data explorer tool to view how CEO's responded to our 21st Global CEO Survey.

How concerned are CEOs about the following potential business threats to their organisations’ growth prospects?

Contact us

Jan Willem Velthuijsen

Jan Willem Velthuijsen

Chief economist PwC, PwC Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0)62 248 32 93

Follow us