The survey for the compilation of the quarterly economic sentiment indicator is carried out by the Association of Chief Executive Officers (ACEO), an organization that is the best advocate for the top management in Greece, with members being among the top executives of the most important companies in the country, in collaboration with ICAP CRIF, being the largest group providing services to businesses. The survey is conducted every three months among the top managers of the largest Greek companies in order to record their assessments regarding the current economic situation and their forecasts for the near future.
Methodology
The survey is conducted among the CEOs (Managing Directors, Presidents and General Managers) of the 2,080 largest Greek companies. The members of ACEO are added to this population, so the reporting population stands at 2,540 people. The questionnaire includes 12 questions and the completion and registration of which is done online through a special online survey platform.
The 10 main questions concern the current state of the economy and the future expectations, while 2 additional questions are addressed to the Managing Directors regarding important issues of general economic interest during the survey period. The current economic situation indicator (ACEO/ICAP CRIF-CEO Current status Index) is based on the answers referring to the current economic situation and the expectations’ index (ACEO/ICAP CRIF-CEO Expectation Index) is based on the answers referring to the future expectations. The current economic situation indicator (ACEO/ICAP CRIF-CEO Current status Index) is based on the answers referring to the current economic situation and the expectations’ index (ACEO/ICAP CRIF-CEO Expectation Index) is based on the answers referring to the future expectations. The conversion of the answers into an index and then into a chronological order was carried out using the net-balances method (differences of positive-negative answers) .
All the indices are quarterly, based on the 4th quarter of 2008 when the first survey was conducted. The presentation of the survey results also includes the percentage distribution of the answers per question, while an analysis of the answers is made according to the size of the companies which were distinguished into three strata based on the criterion of employment (small and medium-sized enterprises with not more than 100 people employed by them, large enterprises with 101-300 employees and very large enterprises with 301 employees and more) and depending on the sector of activity where the enterprises were distinguished into three layers (agricultural products – industry – energy – construction, trade and services). The sample is updated in each survey by a small percentage, in order to monitor the developments of the financial sizes of the companies as well as the movements of the top executives.
Improvement in the Economic Climate Index in the Second Quarter of 2026
The ACEO/ICAP CRIF CEO General Index reached 153 points in the second quarter of 2026, according to the quarterly survey conducted by the Association of Chief Executive Officers (ACEO) in collaboration with ICAP CRIF. The survey was carried out among a sample of 2,674 CEOs and General Managers of Greece’s largest companies during the period 22 June – 2 July 2026.
During the second quarter of 2026, the ACEO/ICAP CRIF CEO General Index rebounded to 153 points, up from 138 points in the previous quarter, although it remained below the level recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025. The improvement reflects CEOs’ optimism regarding both domestic economic developments and the easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, despite the upward trend and continued volatility in oil prices.
Analysis by company size shows that the index increased across businesses of all sizes, with the strongest gains recorded among small, medium-sized, and large enterprises. The ACEO CEO Current Status Index rose to 145 points, compared with 135 points in the previous quarter, while the ACEO CEO Expectations Index increased to 160 points, up from 141 points in the previous quarter.
The results of the CEO Index Q2-2026 are available in Greek here.
“The second quarter of 2026 saw a recovery and an increase in the Economic Climate Index. The improvement reflects CEOs’ confidence that the Greek economy will maintain positive growth rates, although geopolitical developments, global uncertainty, and recent European Central Bank monetary policy decisions continue to concern business leaders and influence corporate decision-making. At the same time, the majority of CEOs believe that artificial intelligence will have a moderate to strong impact on improving business productivity. One in two CEOs considers that the ECB’s interest rate increases will have a neutral impact on businesses.”
