When it comes to over-reporting of specific topics, the FT audience splits along gender lines: 51 per cent of male readers feel there is too much coverage of social inequality (eg: gender, race and ethnicity), but only 28 per cent of female readers agreed (42 per cent believe there isn’t enough). Evidence, perhaps, that even the FT’s audiences are not immune to the great gender divergence.

Two-thirds of readers feel geopolitical tensions had not received enough attention in 2024, yet two-thirds also believe geopolitics will be a news cycle feature in 2025. Trade tariffs, economic threats and immigration are also expected to be in the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, many readers added their own response to the question, “Which of the following news topics do you expect to dominate the news cycle in 2025?”, which was a resounding “TRUMP”. Some highlights of the written responses: “the idiotic Trump administration,” "scum Trump and his despicable gang,” "the Orange one in the US,” and "Trump, regrettably”.

When asked about planning big purchases in 2025, travel is, by a wide margin, the most popular choice, with 54 per cent of readers intending to spend heavily on holidays in the year ahead. Among APAC readers this figure rises to 57 per cent – an early marker, possibly, of the rise of the Indian tourist?

Asked about local economic conditions, FT readers are similarly downcast, with those thinking things will improve at just 31 per cent and those expecting decline at 42 per cent (up from 28 per cent in Q324). The pessimism was driven largely by readers on either side of the Atlantic. In the Americas, optimism about the local economic outlook was down from 45 per cent in Q3 '24 to 34 per cent in our most recent poll, possibly because many readers share Martin Sandbu’s fear that the unpredictability of Trumponomics goes way beyond tariffs.

In CEMEA, there is a surge in optimism among FT readers working in the retail, travel and leisure sector, with 47 per cent of respondents thinking things will improve over the next six months, up from just 17 per cent in Q3 '24. For a sector that was hit hard by the pandemic and then the inflation shock, could this perhaps be confirmation that the tailwinds for a European consumer recovery are building?

In the UK, there was an uptick in optimism among those working in education, with readers thinking that things will improve for their sector at 30 per cent, up from 11 per cent in Q3 '24. But there was growing pessimism elsewhere; only 38 per cent of readers working in energy, manufacturing and engineering believe things will improve (down from a high of 62 per cent in Q2 '24). Might increasing numbers of them feel that the UK desperately needs a proper industrial strategy?

Another consistent trend has been the declining fortunes of ESG. In Q1 '23, 12 per cent of readers put “developing corporate ESG goals” in their company’s top four priorities, a number that had halved to 6 per cent in our most recent survey. Might this be further evidence of a conservative realignment in the corporate world?

This growing pessimism was driven by readers in APAC, where net business confidence crashed from 84 per cent to 67 per cent in three months. Trump’s threat of tariffs is a likely cause, as perhaps is China’s struggle to stimulate domestic demand. Could growing doubts about India’s economic fundamentals also be a factor?

In terms of corporate messaging to stakeholders, “trust” and “performance” remain the top two priorities. But there are marked differences across the sectors. Among FT readers who work in tech, the top communication priority was “innovation” at 51 per cent. This also varied depending on which side of the Atlantic respondents are. 79 per cent of tech companies in the Americas were keen to telegraph their innovations, compared with just 46 per cent in CEMEA. Evidence, perhaps, that they recognise America’s innovation advantage and want to make sure the world takes note.