The main findings of the EY Tunisia 2026 Business Barometer were presented on Thursday, May 8, by EY Tunisia CEO Fehmi Laourine, who highlighted three major takeaways.
The first concerns business leaders’ perception of the economic and social situation, which remains critical but is showing clear improvement.
76% of business leaders have a negative assessment of situation
Indeed, 76% of business leaders still have a negative view of the economic and social climate, a significant figure showing that structural difficulties persist. However, the trend is improving: the figure stood at 96% in 2023 and 84% in 2024.
“The assessment remains negative, but it is clearly easing over time,” Laourine said.
This shift is even more visible regarding expectations for the economy: 36% anticipate a deterioration, 36% expect improvement, and 28% foresee stability.
By comparison, in 2024, 62% expected a worsening situation, while only 19% anticipated improvement.
Laourine noted that “we have moved from a vision dominated by pessimism to a much more balanced distribution of economic outlook scenarios.”
The second major takeaway concerns the actual situation of companies, which appears significantly better than their perception of the broader environment.
52% of companies report an improvement in their activity
According to the survey, 52% of companies reported improved business activity in 2025, while only 21% reported a decline. For 2026, 45% expect further improvement, compared with just 17% anticipating a decline.
Laourine said this reveals “a very interesting gap”: while perceptions of the overall environment remain demanding, company performance is improving, highlighting a disconnect between the macroeconomic assessment and microeconomic realities.
“In short, business leaders may be worried about the economic situation, but their companies continue to move forward,” he added.
Here are the main concerns of business leaders!
The third key finding relates to changing priorities among business leaders.
“For the first time, tax pressure tops the list of concerns for business leaders. This is an important signal that must be properly understood. Previously, the economic situation was always the primary concern,” Laourine said.
According to him, concerns over taxation are driven by three main factors:
1. Lack of predictability: companies need medium-term visibility, and frequent changes make planning difficult.
2. A strong sense of unfairness: the tax burden is largely borne by the most structured and transparent companies, while the informal sector is still perceived as insufficiently integrated.
3. The issue of value in return: business leaders feel that the quality of administrative services, in terms of processing times, simplicity and support, does not always meet expectations.
Laourine stressed that the issue is not necessarily tax rates themselves, but rather predictability, fairness and the quality of public services provided in return.
The overall message of the 2026 Barometer is clear: Tunisian companies remain resilient, continue to move forward and are now calling for a clearer and more predictable business environment to accelerate growth.
