Detailed Findings | BDO Business Performance Index October 2026

Below is a detailed breakdown of the October 2026 BDO Business Performance Index survey results.

National insights

FIGURE 1

Business performance sentiment at a glance

Business performance sentiment at a glance

FIGURE 2

Business performance sentiment: Trend
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 3

Business performance sentiment: Current vs future
% Feeling positive in last 2 weeks* vs % expecting to feel positive in 6 months’ time

FIGURE 4

% Feeling positive about overall business performance

Sectors

FIGURE 5

Sector business performance sentiment at a glance
% Business leaders feeling positive in last 2 weeks (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 6

Current business financials per sector
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time) in the past 2 weeks.

FIGURE 7

Agribusiness performance sentiment: Trend
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 8

Construction performance sentiment: Trend
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 9

Māori business performance sentiment: Trend
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 10

Retail business performance sentiment: Trend
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 11

Tourism performance sentiment: Trend
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

Regions & markets

FIGURE 12

Business performance sentiment
% Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time)

FIGURE 13

Top five issues: Business performance
Lowest scoring business performance attributes. % Business leaders feeling positive (all or most of the time) in last 2 weeks

Wellbeing

FIGURE 14

Business leader wellbeing at a glance

FIGURE 15

Business financial sentiment and wellbeing follow a similar trend
% Feeling positive about business financials in last 2 weeks (all or most of the time) vs WHO-5 Wellbeing Index*

FIGURE 16

Business leader wellbeing

FIGURE 17

Top five drivers of negative wellbeing over time

FIGURE 18

Drivers causing business leaders to feel less mentally healthy than normal