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[interactive map] the 2025 Business Health Index.

Published Date

find out which markets are most optimistic about the year ahead. where does yours rank?

The Talent Trends Business Health Index shows the views of human capital and C-suite leaders in 21 markets based on four factors: reported growth in the last year, reported hiring in the last year, leaders’ views on the current political environment, and whether they expect their business to grow significantly in the next year.

Since 2016, Randstad Enterprise's Talent Trends research has collected more than 8,400 responses on these factors. This feedback is normalized and used to determine the business health outlook both globally and locally, providing a basis for comparison. A score of 100 is the baseline global average set in 2016. An indexed value of 80 or lower indicates the market is less optimistic, whereas a score of 120 or higher suggests the market is more optimistic about the year ahead.

The sentiments represented in our 2025 Business Health Index were measured in Q4 2024, and high market volatility and political factors may have impacted expectations since then. Based on the existing data, the 2025 index suggests tempered optimism, with the average index up 3 points this year and most markets scoring above the baseline of 100.

year-over-year shifts

Two markets display great optimism for 2025, with index scores above 150 points: Hungary and Belgium. At the same time, four markets display growing optimism year-over-year and have increased scores by more than 20 points: the Nordics (+63), Poland (+41), Argentina (+31) and Brazil (+30). Poland recovers from a previous 55-point drop last year, jumping from 106 points back up to 147 and landing in third for 2025.

Meanwhile, Singapore — which previously ranked third on our 2024 Business Health Index — sees a 75-point drop this year, indicating declining optimism here. Additional markets with significant drops include Australia (-18), the U.S. (-19) and Japan (-36), which topped our list last year.

While some markets have seen significant shifts, sentiments in France, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., Canada, Brazil and India land slightly over the baseline of 100, while China, the U.S., Singapore and Italy land below it.

meeting growth expectations

The Talent Trends research also shows the percentage of businesses exceeding growth expectations has remained stable for the last four years. The highest percentage of talent leaders who indicate growth beyond expectations includes: Hungary (56%), India (48%), Belgium (47%) and Australia (44%). The greatest positive shifts are seen in the Nordics (+26%), India (+24%), Belgium (+18%) and Brazil (+16%).

Meanwhile the lowest percentage of talent leaders who indicate growth beyond expectations are in Argentina (17%), the U.S. (18%), China (22%) and the U.K. (22%). The greatest negative shifts are seen in Singapore (-16%), the U.S. (-16%) and Japan (-15%). 

interactive map

Click on a market in the interactive map below to see individual index scores, rankings and year-over-year shifts. Find out where your market lands in the 2025 Business Health Index.