Monthly PMI Bulletin: March 2025

The following is an extract from S&P Global Market Intelligence's latest Monthly PMI Bulletin. For the full report, please click on the 'Download Full Report' link.

Download full report

Global growth decelerates while business optimism cools

The global economic expansion slowed for a second successive month in March with decelerating services offsetting improvements in the goods producing sector. Cost pressures intensified while employment and business optimism levels fell in February.

The J.P.Morgan Global PMI Composite Output Index - produced by S&P Global - registered 51.5 in February, down from 51.8 in January. The latest print signalled an extension of the global economic expansion to just over two years, though growth was the slowest in 14 months. At its current level, the index is broadly consistent with the global economy expanding at an annualized rate of 2.2%, falling short of the estimated 3.0% growth seen in the fourth quarter of last year.

The softening of the global growth pace was mainly attributed to a slower services activity expansion, which decelerated for a second successive month. While goods production increased at the fastest pace in eight months, the rate of growth was mild and supported to some extent by temporary front-loading of goods orders ahead of additional tariff implementation. By region, the slowdown in growth was limited to developed economies, with the US notably losing momentum to expand at the softest pace since last April.

In addition to slowing growth, employment levels fell for the first time in three months and business confidence sank to the lowest since last September. Concurrently, cost pressures intensified with input cost inflation touching a seven-month high prior to fresh injections of global tariffs in the early March.

The latest PMI indicators therefore hint at added pressure on growth in the near-term and we will look to upcoming flash PMI releases on March 24th for fresh insights into business conditions amid the rapidly changing environment across major developed economies.

© 2025, S&P Global. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Purchasing Managers' Index™ (PMI^®) data are compiled by S&P Global for more than 40 economies worldwide. The monthly data are derived from surveys of senior executives at private sector companies, and are available only via subscription. The PMI dataset features a headline number, which indicates the overall health of an economy, and sub-indices, which provide insights into other key economic drivers such as GDP, inflation, exports, capacity utilization, employment and inventories. The PMI data are used by financial and corporate professionals to better understand where economies and markets are headed, and to uncover opportunities.

Learn more about PMI data

Request a demo

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.