Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly all of the FT readers who participated in this edition were familiar with Davos, as well as the G7 and NATO summits. 88 per cent of readers felt that the FT’s coverage of these political or economic events was either excellent or good. However, opinion over whether these political and economic events have an impact is mixed. Overall, exactly 50 per cent of respondents thought that decisions and discussions at these events had real-world consequences, while an additional 31 per cent did not have a strong opinion on it.

Interestingly, there are geographical nuances to this too. Looking at the regional breakdown, respondents from USA and Americas were more likely to deem these events impactful with 13 per cent more likely to agree that “these global events help shape the direction of the world”. Conversely, respondents in APAC were more likely to say their personal financial and investment decisions were impacted by these global events.

In arts and luxury, the various global fashion weeks ranked among the most widely recognised, while in sports the spectacles of the Summer Olympics, Wimbledon and the 2026 FIFA World Cup ranked in the top three.

When asking about what lifestyle topics FT audiences are interested in, the age divide was clear: Younger audiences were much more likely to select fashion and sustainability/ethical consumption, with senior audiences more focused on architecture and design, and cultural festivals.

The same trend emerged when FT readers asked about related art and cultural events. While the most well-known event among FT audiences was Art Basel (54 per cent), only 11 per cent of these responses came from those under 45 years old. This younger cohort seemed more familiar with the various fashion weeks across the world.

The generational divide seems to deepen even more when it comes to art and politics. Of those under 45, 52 per cent agree that “art is inherently political” (compared with 40 per cent of those over 65 who disagree with this). Likewise, nearly half of those under 45 disagree that “politics should be kept out of art,” while close on two fifths of those over 45 believe that it should.

All four economic outlook metrics are rising simultaneously – the number of people who feel that economic conditions will “improve” has increased, which is a strong signal of broad, if wary, optimism. The view on local economic conditions shows the sharpest jump (24 per cent to 35 per cent).

When asked about their industry’s economic conditions over the next six months, FT readers were divided, with 41 per cent predicting that there would be no real change. Unsurprisingly, there was considerable variation across sectors. Among readers working in professional services, pessimism prevailed throughout 2025; the year ended with 36 per cent of respondents working in the industry predicting a decline in conditions and only 22 per cent thinking things will improve. This reflects a difficult year for the Big Four accounting firms.

From a sectoral perspective, the most optimistic was professional services. 35 per cent of those working in the sector felt conditions would improve in the next six months. This is a marked increase from the 22 per cent of Q4 ‘25. Indeed, professional services spent the whole of 2025 with an average of around 23 per cent. This may be due to the agility and resilience of the sector, and its solid exposure to current macro trends such as AI transformation.

AI has now marked its transition from experimentation to operational priority. After steadily rising for the past 18 months, AI has finally become the single most important company goal in Q1 ‘26. This appears to have been driven by shifting priorities in various sectors, namely finance, tech and government/health/NGOs.

Recent FT x IPA research underlines how trust remains a dominant driver of business performance, shaping decision-making, brand loyalty and long-term growth. In an environment of increasing uncertainty, trust is now seen as a core strategic asset ranked among the most powerful factors influencing profit and market success.

This is also borne out by the results of this Audience Barometer. Trust continued its unbroken dominance from 2025 into the new year, remaining the number one business communication priority. The only region where the top spot was not occupied by trust was the USA and Americas, where performance slightly shaded it in the list of priorities.

Equally, taking the long view from Q3 '23 to Q1 '26, respondents overwhelmingly feel that it’s vital to communicate with customers at the moment (86 per cent). At the same time, 74 per cent of these respondents are confident in their business’ ability to successfully navigate through the current economic and geopolitical climate. While the obvious caveat regarding the timing of this survey holds, there are still interesting variations when looking at different sectors.