One of the key findings: for the first time in the past 10 years, all four global regions have reported a positive turnover development simultaneously.

In terms of operating profit, most companies maintained a good level of performance in 2017, and more than 40 percent of companies from all regions declared an increase of more than 10 percent, compared with 2016.

However, the prospects for 2018 are currently lower globally.

"We are pleased to see that the growth for 2018, anticipated 6 months ago, appears to be confirmed, and that this is the case in all regions of the world; at the same time, geopolitical uncertainty and specific industry shifts lead to cautious expectations in terms of profits,” said Kai Hattendorf, UFI Managing Director / CEO.

He added, “We also notice that a wide range of companies around the world are embracing the digitisation of our industry," 

Results also indicate that the top business issue for the industry remains the “state of the national/regional economy” (listed by 24 percent of all respondents), ahead of "Competition within the industry" and "Global economic developments" (listed by 18 percent of each respondents).

For the second year running, the barometer included a section focusing on the state of digital conversion in the industry. The headline “Digitisation Implementation Index - DIX”, has moved slightly up to +32 (up +1 from last year). 

This latest edition of UFI’s semi-annual industry survey was concluded in July 2018 and includes data from a record 312 companies in 55 countries.

The study delivers outlooks and analysis for fourteen major markets: Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Macau, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, the UK and the US. In addition, four aggregated regional zones have been analysed.

Regarding turnover for the two halves of 2018 and the first half of 2019, all four global regions report that a majority of companies declare an increase in turnover, even when taking into account the companies who are uncertain about their turnover for the coming year: this is the case for around 7 companies out of 10 in the Americas, in Asia/Pacific and also in Europe.

In addition, in Europe, more than 8 companies out of 10 have positive expectations for the first half of 2019. In the Middle East and Africa the levels are a bit lower (6 companies out of 10, with higher levels of uncertainty).