The general economic sentiment index (EASE/ICAP CRIF-CEO General Index) for the 4th quarter of 2024 stood at 160 points, as recorded by the 3-monthly survey conducted on a sample of 2,540 CEOs/General Managers of the largest Greek companies by the Society of Senior Business Executives (EASE) in collaboration with ICAP CRIF. The survey was conducted between 16/12/2024 and 31/12/2024.

In the last quarter of 2024, the general economic sentiment index (EASE/ICAP CRIF-CEO General Index) recovered and stood at 160 points compared to 151 in the previous quarter. The return of the index to the level it had reached in the first half of 2024 shows that CEOs remain optimistic about the positive performance of both the companies they manage and the Greek economy as a whole, despite the international geopolitical instability in various geographic regions and the low rate of economic growth in the European Union.

An analysis of the results by size category shows an increase in the index across all business sizes. The EASE-CEO Current Status Index rose to 159 points compared to 150 points in the previous quarter and the EASE-CEO Expectation Index improved to 162 points compared to 153 points in the previous quarter.

In detail, the individual indicators record the following developments for Q4 2024:

• The country's Current Economic Situation Index improved to 221 points compared to 195 in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs who say the country's current economic situation has improved compared to 1 year ago increased to 41% compared to 26% in the previous quarter.
• The percentage of CEOs who say the country's current economic situation has improved was 48% for service firms. The index for predicting the country's economic situation one year later rose to 186 points from 169 points in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs who think the country's economic situation will improve in the next year rose to 32% from 25% in the previous quarter. This figure rises to 38% for very large firms.
• The index of the current economic condition of the industry in which firms operate rose to 188, up from 177 in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs who say the current state of their industry is better than 1 year ago increased to 39% from 33% in the previous quarter, up from 33% in the previous quarter, a figure that is up to 52% for CEOs of service firms.
• The index of expectations for the economic situation of the business sector increased to 167 points compared to 159 in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs who believe that in a year's time their operating industries will be in better financial condition than they are now was 31%, up from 42% for CEOs of service businesses.
• The index of companies' current financial condition increased to 128 points from 125 points in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs reporting that their companies' current financial condition has improved year-over-year rose to 55%, increasing to 66% for CEOs of service firms and 67% for CEOs of very large firms.
• The CEOs' index of expectations for their company's financial condition in the coming year rose to 140 points from 133 points in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs expecting improvement in the coming year rose to 53%, increasing to 67% for CEOs of very large companies.
• The current spending on fixed capital expenditures index rose to 142 points from 137 in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs reporting that current capital expenditure of the companies they manage is higher than a year earlier rose to 41%, while it increased to 55% for CEOs of industrial companies and 62% for CEOs of very large companies.
• The investment expectations index improved significantly to 158 points from 141 points in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs indicating that investment spending in their companies will be higher in the coming year was 45%, up from 32% in the previous quarter. For CEOs of very large companies, this figure rises to 67%.
• The current employment index showed a marginal increase to 117, up from 116 in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs reporting that the number of employees at the firms they manage is larger than a year ago rose to 50% (versus 47% in the previous quarter), which is up to 70% for CEOs of industrial firms and 66% for CEOs of very large firms.