What 5,050 CEOs told PwC they're expecting in 2021

CEOs are increasingly feeling very confident about economic growth as organizations recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a PricewaterhouseCoopers report found.

The study surveyed 5,050 CEOs from 100 countries and territories between January and February on their take on the future. Surveyed CEOs are proportionate to a country's GDP to ensure CEO viewpoints are representative across major regions. 

Five key report findings from the survey:

1. Seventy-six percent of CEOs believe global economic growth will increase in the next 12 months, the largest percentage in 10 consecutive annual studies.
   
   
2. CEO confidence has rebounded, with 36 percent of CEOs "very confident" about their organization's prospect for revenue growth over the next 12 months, compared to 27 percent in 2020.
   
   
3. In North America, CEOs expressed feeling the "most concerned" about cyber threats affecting their organization's growth prospects, followed by over-regulation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
   
   
4. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 49 percent of CEOs wanted to significantly increase their long-term investment in digital transformation.
   
   
5. Twenty-three percent of CEOs in the U.S. felt that China was the most important country for their organization's growth over the next 12 months, followed by the U.K. (21 percent), Germany (16 percent) and Canada (16 percent).