View monthly updates and historical trends for Small Business Optimism Index. from United States. Source: National Federation of Independent Business (NFI…

NFIB Business Optimism Index in the United States decreased to 98.80 points in February from 99.30 points in January of 2026. This dataset provides - United States Nfib Business Optimism Index - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In August 2024, the U.S. Small Business Optimism Index amounted to 91.2. This is a slight decrease from a value of 93.7 in the previous month. The index consists of 10 indicators derived from questions addressing small business owners: Plans to create employment; plans to make capital outlays; plans to increase inventories; expect economy to improve; expect real sales higher; current inventory; current job openings; expected credit conditions; now a good time to expand; earnings trends.

The Business Confidence Index (BCI) of the United Kingdom was 98.8 in December 2025, an increase from the previous month. During this time period, business confidence was highest in late 2021 and was at its lowest point in May 2020. Taxation emerges as the main business concern In the third quarter of 2023, inflation was seen by 65 percent of UK firms as a major external concern facing their business. At that time, the UK's inflation rate was still at the relatively high figure of 6.7 percent, although this was down from a peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022. As the rate of inflation continued to fall in 2024, the issue became slightly less pressing for UK businesses, with 49 percent seeing it as a main concern in the second quarter of 2024, although it was still ahead of other issues. From the second half of 2024 onwards, however, taxation has emerged as the main worry for UK firms, with 63 percent of businesses citing it as an external concern in the fourth quarter of 2025. This is likely related to the rise in National Insurance businesses have had to pay from April 2025 onwards, one of the main measures announced in the Autumn Budget in October 2024. UK business demographics In 2025, there were approximately 5.7 million private business enterprises in the UK, which was down from a peak of 5.98 million in 2020. As of this year, the UK's private sector workforce was around 28 million, compared with just under 6.2 million who worked in the public sector. While most businesses in the UK are small enterprises that employ fewer than ten people, the UK's large businesses are responsible for employing a large share of the workforce, with around 8.3 million people working for large businesses in 2025. The biggest UK-based company, in terms of global employees that year, was the Compass Group, which had a global workforce of around half a million, followed by Tesco at 336,400 employees.

Business Confidence in Australia decreased to -1 points in February from 4 points in January of 2026. This dataset provides - Australia Business Confidence - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.