Results of the ICC-Ifo World Economic Survey, reveal declining optimism over global economic recovery as fear continues to spread about the unsolved debt crisis in Europe.

The Survey, which received responses from 1,079 experts in 123 countries, showed that the world economic climate indicator fell to 85.1 in Q3 2012 after two successive increases. These results are significantly below the long-term average of 96.7 (1996-2011) for the Survey, conducted by the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

These findings imply a setback in the recovery of the world economy due to unfavorable assessments of the current economic climate and a less positive six-month outlook than in previous quarters, particularly in Europe.

The climate indicator for Europe sunk to 88.9 for the current quarter, down 20 points from its long-term average of 109.0.

“Political decisions are urgently needed in order to counter this widespread negative outlook and to boost investor confidence, starting with resolving the debt crisis in Europe,” said ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier.

While the experts downgraded their evaluation of the economic climate from previous quarters – standing at 82.4 and 95.0 in Q1 and Q2 of this year respectively – they implied that the global economy is still in recovery and has not fallen back into recession.

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