Lahore, 22, July 2026: The fallout from the Middle East conflict continues to impact the results from the ACCA and IMA Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS). The survey was conducted between 3 and 17 June, before the renewed fighting and
resumption of the U.S. naval blockade Over three-quarters of accountants globally reported increased operating costs in
Q2 – above the previous record set in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – amid soaring commodity prices and supply chain disruptions resulting from the conflict.
Strikingly, 83% of CFOs experienced increased costs, following a record-
breaking rise of over 20 percentage points from Q1. This is close to series peaks recorded in 2022 and 2023.
Despite soaring costs, there was some recovery in confidence among accountants globally in Q2, from what was close to a record low in Q1. While they remain quite downbeat by historical standards, the improvement likely reflects the relative
resilience of the global economy and signs at the time of the survey of movement towards a potential resolution of the conflict, which may have reduced fears of worst-case scenarios.
That said, declines in the Global New Orders, Capital Expenditure and Employment indices point to some slowing in global growth, likely reflecting headwinds from increased private sector caution, rising inflation, and tighter-than-expected
monetary policy, although they do not appear to be signalling a major economic slowdown.
Confidence among accountants remains weak by historical standards in North America and Western Europe, but after a sharp recovery in Q2 is now meaningfully above average in Asia-Pacific. While the region is very exposed to developments in the Middle East, hopes of a potential resolution of the conflict and the relative resilience of the global economy have likely been factors boosting sentiment, as well as the global AI boom, of which the region’s exporters are major beneficiaries.
