New Delhi: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday highlighted that India has been ranked as the top country in business climate among 40+ global markets in the latest Business Climate Survey 2026 by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in India (SCCI).
“India is the world’s favourite destination to do business. Amid global turbulence, India’s business climate is setting the gold standard for stability, growth, and ease of doing business,” the Union Minister said in a post on social media platform X.
The Global Business Climate Survey 2026 edition presents insights from 41 markets, offering a broad view of Swedish companies’ perspectives of doing business abroad.
The survey aims to provide a framework for comparing economic performance, outlook, and operating conditions over time in key Swedish export markets.
It highlights the challenges companies face and identifies opportunities for Swedish companies considering entry into new markets or expansion in existing ones.
“APAC (Asia-Pacific) remains the most optimistic region, with India and Vietnam among the highest-rated markets. In contrast, Middle East and Africa indicates a shift toward more cautious sentiment, with notably lower scores in Saudi Arabia, where the share of companies expressing a positive outlook has declined from 90 per cent in 2025 to 44 per cent in 2026. Perceptions in the Americas and Europe are somewhat more positive than in 2025, with Ireland entering the top tier,” the survey said.
“Given that data collection coincided with the onset of the war in the Middle East on February 28, the results should be interpreted with caution. Around 75 per cent of responses were collected before February 28 and 25 per cent afterwards, meaning that potential war-related impacts may only be partially captured in the survey. A comparison of the results collected before the war with those submitted after its outbreak shows that the war particularly affects companies’ perceptions of the business climate, expected industry turnover, and investment plans,” the survey added.
Despite regional variation in business climate perceptions, 64 per cent of Swedish companies report profitability across the surveyed markets.
Regionally, the Americas show the strongest expectations, while market-level growth projections are highest in India, the Philippines and Poland.
“In 2026, 44 per cent of Swedish companies plan to increase investments, slightly down from 45 per cent in 2025, largely due to a slowdown in the Americas. APAC remains stable, with the Philippines and India among the top investment markets, while Europe lags behind the other regions,” the survey said.
(IANS)
