A quick scan of recent international business news headlines suggests much more worry than optimism, and that worry is reflected in a global survey of attitudes. Canadians, however, stand out with relatively upbeat attitudes.

IPSOS’s “Global Economic Pulse” is a survey of participants in 24 countries around the world, assessing the current economic situation in each country. The survey was conducted between September 9th-19th.

In Canada, 66% of survey participants judged the Canadian economy to be in GOOD or VERY GOOD shape at the moment. That puts us in #4 spot globally, behind Saudi Arabia, Sweden and India. Canada outperforms such economic hot-spots as China, Germany and Australia. On average, only 39% give their country such a positive assessment.

Canadian attitudes stand in sharp contrast to those of our American neighbours, where only 15% believe the economy to be in good or very good shape. (See graph for top 10 and bottom 5 countries).
This side of the 49th parallel certainly has more things working in its favour: commodity prices are strong, real estate prices are (mostly) stable, the banks are in very good shape, and unemployment was a reasonable 7.1% in September.

However, even though Canadians appear to feel quite positive about the current economy, attitudes have softened since August. In that month, 72% of participants judged the Canadian economy to be in good or very good shape.*

*Todd Hirsch, Senior Economist, ATB Financial