(Bandar Seri Begawan, 18th) The Brunei Central Bank has released the Brunei Business Sentiment Index (BSI) for October 2025.
This index is based on a survey of about 500 micro, small, medium, and large enterprises from all regions of Brunei.
The BSI aims to gauge the level of business confidence in Brunei across various aspects, including the current and anticipated business environment, investment, hiring, and operating costs.
As the BSI adopts a forward-looking approach, the index serves as an early indicator of the nation's macroeconomic conditions.
The main index of the BSI—the Business Environment Sub-index—recorded 50.4 in October 2025, signaling a more optimistic business environment compared to the previous month.
The positive development in the business environment was supported by several factors, including increased sales and orders, seasonal demand, new and ongoing projects, rising subscription volumes, and active marketing campaigns.
Some enterprises also benefited from industry-specific drivers such as higher contributions in insurance and Takaful, increased bookings in tourism and conventions, and stronger sales in poultry and agricultural products.
However, these positive effects were offset for some enterprises (especially export-dependent ones) due to weak demand, intensified competition for projects, and production disruptions related to weather concerns. The one-month forward index was 49.9, with most businesses holding a pessimistic outlook for November 2025.
Overall, given seasonal slowdown, increased outbound travel for school holidays, contract terminations, reduced customer activities, project completions, and some disruptions caused by customer activities and weather conditions, businesses expect their performance to decline.
Meanwhile, the Investment Sub-index for October 2025 was 50.4, with both the one-month and three-month forward indexes at 50.6, indicating market expectations of a growth in investment levels, with this trend expected to continue in the coming months.
For October 2025, investment growth was mainly attributed to project activities, renovation and expansion, system upgrades, equipment purchases, as well as inventory replenishment ahead of the upcoming sales cycle and holiday season.
Looking ahead, traders expect investment levels to continue to rise, especially to meet ongoing project implementation and year-end demand preparations.
However, traders emphasized that the bulk of actual investment would depend on the final confirmation of projects and business performance.
In addition, the Employment Sub-index for October 2025 and the following month both stood at 49.9, indicating a slight decline in staff numbers due to resignations, retirements, and contract terminations.
Nevertheless, the majority of businesses reported that staff levels in October and November 2025 remained stable and noted plans to recruit to fill vacancies left by departing employees and to support new projects and business expansion.
Furthermore, some MSMEs expressed concern over the processes involved in hiring foreign workers.
As for the Business Costs Sub-index, the index for October 2025 was 50.4, up from 50.0 the previous month, indicating that business costs were expected to rise in October and may gradually stabilize by November 2025.
The cost increase in October was mainly due to production volumes and project-related expenditures.
Other factors included marketing and promotional costs, maintenance or repair work, as well as the rising cost of imports, transportation and leasing.
Looking forward, businesses anticipate that operating costs in November 2025 will remain largely unchanged from October.
For more details on the Business Cost Index, the public may visit the Brunei Central Bank website (www.bdcb.gov.bn) to view methodology and technical explanations of the statistical data.
The public can also keep up with the latest updates on the Business Cost Index via upcoming press releases and the Brunei Central Bank's Instagram account (@centralbank.brunei).
This index is based on a survey of about 500 micro, small, medium, and large enterprises from all regions of Brunei.
The BSI aims to gauge the level of business confidence in Brunei across various aspects, including the current and anticipated business environment, investment, hiring, and operating costs.
As the BSI adopts a forward-looking approach, the index serves as an early indicator of the nation's macroeconomic conditions.
The main index of the BSI—the Business Environment Sub-index—recorded 50.4 in October 2025, signaling a more optimistic business environment compared to the previous month.
The positive development in the business environment was supported by several factors, including increased sales and orders, seasonal demand, new and ongoing projects, rising subscription volumes, and active marketing campaigns.
However, these positive effects were offset for some enterprises (especially export-dependent ones) due to weak demand, intensified competition for projects, and production disruptions related to weather concerns. The one-month forward index was 49.9, with most businesses holding a pessimistic outlook for November 2025.
Overall, given seasonal slowdown, increased outbound travel for school holidays, contract terminations, reduced customer activities, project completions, and some disruptions caused by customer activities and weather conditions, businesses expect their performance to decline.
Meanwhile, the Investment Sub-index for October 2025 was 50.4, with both the one-month and three-month forward indexes at 50.6, indicating market expectations of a growth in investment levels, with this trend expected to continue in the coming months.
For October 2025, investment growth was mainly attributed to project activities, renovation and expansion, system upgrades, equipment purchases, as well as inventory replenishment ahead of the upcoming sales cycle and holiday season.
Looking ahead, traders expect investment levels to continue to rise, especially to meet ongoing project implementation and year-end demand preparations.
However, traders emphasized that the bulk of actual investment would depend on the final confirmation of projects and business performance.
In addition, the Employment Sub-index for October 2025 and the following month both stood at 49.9, indicating a slight decline in staff numbers due to resignations, retirements, and contract terminations.
Nevertheless, the majority of businesses reported that staff levels in October and November 2025 remained stable and noted plans to recruit to fill vacancies left by departing employees and to support new projects and business expansion.
Furthermore, some MSMEs expressed concern over the processes involved in hiring foreign workers.
As for the Business Costs Sub-index, the index for October 2025 was 50.4, up from 50.0 the previous month, indicating that business costs were expected to rise in October and may gradually stabilize by November 2025.
The cost increase in October was mainly due to production volumes and project-related expenditures.
Other factors included marketing and promotional costs, maintenance or repair work, as well as the rising cost of imports, transportation and leasing.
Looking forward, businesses anticipate that operating costs in November 2025 will remain largely unchanged from October.
For more details on the Business Cost Index, the public may visit the Brunei Central Bank website (www.bdcb.gov.bn) to view methodology and technical explanations of the statistical data.
The public can also keep up with the latest updates on the Business Cost Index via upcoming press releases and the Brunei Central Bank's Instagram account (@centralbank.brunei).