Business Outlook Survey Data

Each quarter, the Business Outlook Survey (BOS) results are based on interviews with senior management of about 100 firms. You can view the latest quarterly data and download all available data. You can also find four-quarter moving average data by firm size, region and sector.

Business Outlook Survey indicator

Chart 1: Business Outlook Survey indicator

Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
The BOS indicator is re-estimated every quarter with the release of the Business Outlook Survey. As such, even though responses to BOS questions are never revised, the entire time series of the indicator is revised after every release.
BOS Indicator5.914.974.881.740.07

Business activity

Chart 2: Past sales growth

* Percentage of firms reporting faster growth minus the percentage reporting slower growthLast observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Past Sales Growth
Over the past 12 months, the rate of increase in your firm’s sales volume (compared with the previous 12 months) was…
Balance of Opinion644248212
Greater (%)7664685041
Less (%)1223212939

Chart 3: Future sales growth

* Percentage of firms expecting faster growth minus the percentage expecting slower growth
† Percentage of firms reporting that indicators have improved minus the percentage reporting that indicators have deterioratedLast observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Future Sales Growth
Over the next 12 months, the rate of increase in your firm’s sales volume (compared with the past 12 months) is expected to be…
Balance of Opinion3-11-26-18-24
Greater (%)4039292828
Less (%)3750544651
Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Indicators of Future Sales
Compared with 12 months ago, have your recent indicators (order books, advanced bookings, sales inquiries, etc.)…
Balance of Opinion6140571811
Deteriorated (%)1218113133
Improved (%)7258684844

Chart 4: Investment in machinery and equipment

* Percentage of firms expecting higher investment minus the percentage expecting lower investmentLast observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Investment in Machinery and Equipment
Over the next 12 months, your firm’s investment spending on M&E (compared with the past 12 months) is expected to be…
Balance of Opinion4742372920
Higher (%)6256555046
Lower (%)1515172126

Chart 5: Credit conditions

* Percentage of firms reporting tightened terms and conditions minus the percentage reporting eased. For this question, the balance of opinion excludes firms that responded “not applicable.” Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Credit Conditions
Over the past 3 months, how have the terms and conditions for obtaining financing changed (compared with the previous 3 months)?
Balance of Opinion26161227
Eased (%)1096113
Tightened (%)1215222330

Chart 6: Future employment level

* Percentage of firms expecting higher levels of employment minus the percentage expecting lower levels Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Future Employment Level
Over the next 12 months, your firm’s level of employment is expected to be…
Balance of Opinion7763664735
Higher (%)8066695446
Lower (%)333711

Pressures on production capacity

Chart 7: Ability to meet demand

  Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Ability to Meet Demand
How would you rate the current ability of your firm to meet an unexpected increase in demand?
Significant difficulty (% of firms)2830212818
Some difficulty (% of firms)5051584851

Chart 8: Labour shortages

* Percentage of firms reporting more-intense labour shortages minus the percentage reporting less-intense shortagesLast observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Labour Shortages
Does your firm face any shortages of labour that restrict your ability to meet demand?
Yes (% of firms)4140424638
Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Intensity of Labour Shortages
Compared with 12 months ago, are labour shortages generally…
Balance of Opinion7462664425
Less intense3651522
More intense7768715947

Wages, prices and inflation

Chart 9: Wage growth

* Percentage of firms expecting higher labour cost increases minus the percentage expecting lower labour cost increases Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Wage Growth
Over the next 12 months, are increases in labour costs expected to be higher, lower or about the same rate as over the past 12 months?
Higher8174735754
Lower96121924
Balance of opinion *7268613831

Chart 10: Input price inflation

* Percentage of firms expecting greater price increases minus the percentage expecting lesser price increases Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Input Price Inflation
Over the next 12 months, are prices of products/services purchased expected to increase at a greater, lesser, or the same rate as over the past year?
Balance of Opinion71612-39-39
Increase at a greater rate (%)4346462020
Increase at a lesser rate (%)3630345959

Chart 11: Output price inflation

* Percentage of firms expecting greater price increases minus the percentage expecting lesser price increasesLast observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Output Price Inflation
Over the next 12 months, are prices of products/services sold expected to increase at a greater, lesser, or the same rate as over the past year?
Balance of Opinion162622-24-10
Increase at a greater rate (%)4350522334
Increase at a lesser rate (%)2725294744

Chart 12: Inflation expectations

Last observation:

Series2021Q42022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q4
Inflation Expectations
Over the next two years, what do you expect the annual rate of inflation to be, based on the consumer price index?
Above 3 per cent (% of firms)6770787784
Below 1 per cent (% of firms)00010
No repsonse (% of firms)131071
1 to 2 per cent (% of firms)21120
2 to 3 per cent (% of firms)3026111316

Notes

For more information, see these references on the Business Outlook Survey.

Since the responses to the questions are calculated as percentages, when the sample is not exactly 100 firms, or respondents do not answer all questions, the results are rounded. Therefore, in some cases, calculating a balance of opinion using the greater and lesser categories may differ slightly from the actual balance of opinion. Also, totals may not always add to 100%.

In 1999Q2 and 2000Q2, the survey questions were asked to industry associations instead of businesses (74 associations in 1999Q2 and 66 associations in 2000Q2). See Martin and Papile (2004). In addition, the summer 2006 results for the labour shortages question presented on Chart 8 are not strictly comparable with those of other surveys, owing to a difference in the interview process for that survey.

In 2022Q4, the survey results for the core charts were recalculated over their history to account for two main changes. To better reflect results of informed responses, we have removed responses coded as “no response” (e.g., firms either responded that the question was not applicable, or they didn’t answer). Previous calculations would have treated firms without a response as reporting “no change”. Also, we have corrected some technical errors from early in the data history. In both cases, the changes are mostly negligible. The changes are reflected in all HTML pages in the past and going forward (past PDFs will not be adjusted).

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