Irish CFO sentiment shifts to cautious positivity amid a stable domestic economy and reduced global uncertainty, new Deloitte survey finds
- Almost three in four (72%) of CFOs in Ireland now expect their company’s revenue to grow in the next year
- Attracting and retaining skilled talent is the number one risk
- CFOs remain cautious as less than one third expect to increase capital expenditure over the next 12 months
- Only 12% are willing to take on more balance-sheet risk
Irish CFO sentiment shifted to cautious positivity in Autumn 2025, driven by stability rather than exuberant optimism, Deloitte’s latest CFO survey shows.
A total of 30% of financial leaders in Ireland reported being more optimistic about the financial prospects of their companies than they were three months ago, up from 28% in Spring of this year and up from 19% in Autumn of last year. This is higher than CFOs in Europe (30% vs 20%).
Just 17% said they were more pessimistic, down from 43% in Spring of this year and 28% in Autumn 2024.
The findings are included in the 21st edition of the Deloitte CFO Survey, which surveyed 1,280 Chief Financial Officers in 14 countries including 60 in Ireland.
In addition to a more positive outlook, the survey signalled a phase of guarded growth.
Almost 3 out of 4 (72%) expect revenue to grow in the coming 12 months, up from 45% in Spring 2025 and close to the highest level recorded in the past two years, which was 74% in Spring 2024.
Despite increases in optimism and confidence, CFOs remain cautious. Just over 3 in 10 of those surveyed (32%) said they expected increases in capital expenditure over the next 12 months, which is down from 37% in Spring 2025 and 42% in Autumn 2024. Almost one in five (18%) predicted a decline with 48% anticipating no change.
This wait-and-see approach applies to workforce growth too with just over a third (35%) of those surveyed expecting their company’s headcount to increase over the coming year, up from 28% in Spring 2025 and 31% in Autumn 2024, but down from 58% in Autumn 2023 and 39% in Spring 2024.
The survey suggests the ongoing levels of cautiousness among those surveyed most likely stems from persistent concerns relating to the overall level of external financial and economic uncertainty facing businesses, despite the trade deal agreed by the EU and US.
Over half of Ireland’s CFOs (53%) reported high external uncertainty, which was down from 60% in Spring 2025, but well above the level of 37% in Autumn 2024.
Asked to identify their top business risk, 83% cited retaining and attracting skilled and qualified employees, ahead of cyber risks (80%), the overall economic outlook (80%), increasing regulations (65%) and geopolitical risks (65%).
A cautious outlook was also reflected in the risk appetite of CFOs in Ireland with only 12% of those surveyed saying they were willing to take on more balance sheet risk, down from 14% in Spring 2025, 19% in Autumn 2024 and 29% in Spring 2024.
Cost reductions (60%) and decreasing operating expenditure (55%) emerged as the top priorities for Ireland’s CFOs in the next year. This was followed by digitalisation (43%), reviewing supply chain efficiencies (40%) and organic growth (40%). Just 13% cited introducing new products or services as a priority while only 12% identified said expanding through acquisitions was a key focus.
Asked to choose the top three areas they were prioritising for investment in automation and AI to drive productivity over the next 3 years, 83% of CFOs said IT infrastructure and cyber-security followed by data management and analytics (82%) and operational efficiency (77%).
Six months ago in Spring 2025, geopolitics was ranked among the top three risks in 86% of countries surveyed - the highest level recorded since Deloitte began the survey in 2015 and surpassing the levels seen at the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Yet the impact of tariffs has proved to be mixed; on the extreme only 5% describe the increased tariffs’ impact as very high and 12% as very low. More than one-third, the highest response rate, describe the impact as ‘normal’, while one in five say it is low, and one-quarter say it is high.
Tom Hynes, Deloitte Ireland Partner in Technology & Transformation said:
CFOs in Ireland are signalling a phase of guarded growth. Our survey shows they are managing continued uncertainty by protecting margins while positioning their organisations for sustainable success. Over the next year, we expect CFOs to continue balancing cost discipline with strategic investment in talent and accelerating AI adoption and automation, helping to increase their competitive advantage.
Louise Kelly, Global Trade Strategy & Resilience Lead at Deloitte Ireland said:
When we last checked in with Ireland’s CFOs in June, US tariffs had been introduced but no trade framework agreement had been secured. The stability since the completion of the EU-US trade deal and the ongoing strength of the Irish economy is likely to have contributed to the new uplift in optimism. This is a positive development, but we must keep it in perspective given the percentage of CFOs who said they were more optimistic about the next 12 months was twice as high in Spring 2024.
“The survey shows CFOs are still adopting a cautious outlook and are focused on
ensuring their companies remain agile and resilient. Businesses that prepare
will be businesses that succeed. In 2026, organisations should continue to use
trade disruption as a catalyst for transformation, accelerating the digitalisation of their supply chains through automation, analytics, and AI.”
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