Bibby Financial Services released the results of its annual Global Business Monitor, an international survey of more than 1,600 small or medium-sized businesses with less than 250 employees in the wholesale, manufacturing, construction, transport and service sectors.

This year’s survey found that in the U.S., two-thirds of SMEs have a positive view of the economy, up from 50% last year. Three-quarters of SMEs expect positive performance to either continue or improve further over the next 12 months and 63% of SMEs expect sales to grow over the next 12 months.

Views on the global economy were less optimistic:

• 65% of U.S. SMEs have concerns about the state of the global economy
• SMEs among all countries believe the top five threats that may hinder growth in 2017 are the political situation in the U.S. (29%), Brexit (20%), mentions of conflict/war/terrorism (15%), protectionism/declining international trade (10%) and slowing growth in China (7%)

Despite this, 49% of businesses said they have grown over the last 12 months, while 55% expect to grow over the next 12 months.

The study surveyed SME owners and decision makers in the U.S., Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore and the UK.