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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.

As of the first quarter of 2023, Chart 2-A: Past sales declines will replace Chart 2-B: Past sales growth. See Backgrounder on removing the past sales growth question from the Business Outlook Survey for details.

Business Outlook Survey indicator

Chart 1: Business Outlook Survey indicator

Last observation:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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 Indicator1.800.20-0.97-2.31-3.51

Business activity

Chart 2-A: Past sales declines

Last observation:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
Past Sales Declines
Did the overall level of your sales volume decline over the past 12 months, compared with the previous 12 months?
Yes (%)18.0023.0016.0023.0032.00

Chart 2-B: Past sales growth

* Percentage of firms reporting faster growth minus the percentage reporting slower growth
Note: This question has been removed from the Business Outlook Survey as of the first quarter of 2023 survey.Last observation:

Series2022Q12022Q22022Q32022Q42023Q1
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 Opinion4248212-
Greater (%)64685041-
Less (%)23212939-

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:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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 Opinion-18-24-18-614
Greater (%)2828303542
Less (%)4651484128
Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
Indicators of Future Sales
Compared with 12 months ago, have your recent indicators (order books, advanced bookings, sales inquiries, etc.)…
Balance of Opinion18111080
Deteriorated (%)3133323637
Improved (%)4844424437

Chart 4: Investment in machinery and equipment

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

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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 Opinion292019147
Higher (%)5046404038
Lower (%)2126212631

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:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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 Opinion1227103026
Eased (%)11316104
Tightened (%)2330264031

Chart 6: Future employment level

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

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
Future Employment Level
Over the next 12 months, your firm’s level of employment is expected to be…
Balance of Opinion4735453427
Higher (%)5446544839
Lower (%)71191412

Pressures on production capacity

Chart 7: Ability to meet demand

  Last observation:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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)28188117
Some difficulty (% of firms)4851513639

Chart 8: Labour shortages

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

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
Labour Shortages
Does your firm face any shortages of labour that restrict your ability to meet demand?
Yes (% of firms)4638313032
Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
Intensity of Labour Shortages
Compared with 12 months ago, are labour shortages generally…
Balance of Opinion4425-30-23-46
Less intense1522474253
More intense594718198

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:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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?
Higher575447279
Lower1924254659
Balance of opinion *383122-19-50

Chart 10: Input price inflation

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

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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 Opinion-39-39-49-53-63
Increase at a greater rate (%)202017159
Increase at a lesser rate (%)5959666872

Chart 11: Output price inflation

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

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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 Opinion-24-10-26-33-43
Increase at a greater rate (%)2334251914
Increase at a lesser rate (%)4744515256

Chart 12: Inflation expectations

Last observation:

Series2022Q32022Q42023Q12023Q22023Q3
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)7784796453
Below 1 per cent (% of firms)10000
No response (% of firms)70344
1 to 2 per cent (% of firms)20124
2 to 3 per cent (% of firms)1316173039

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).

Our Valet API is designed to help you integrate your applications and processes with our data. For details, please see our documentation.

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