2026 Global Sourcing Survey: From Disruption to Opportunity

After a decade of disruption, global supply chains are no longer caught off guard. QIMA’s 2026 Sourcing Survey captures real-world insights from over 1,000 businesses worldwide, showing how experienced sourcing networks are transforming challenges into smarter strategies, stronger supplier relationships, and lasting competitive advantage for global procurement.

Download the full 2026 report to learn how leading companies are reducing supply chain disruptions while improving:

• How 79% of businesses expect costs to remain a major disruption and how the smartest are responding

• Why tariff-hit companies are accelerating diversification, with Vietnam and India leading new volume shifts

• How fully mapped supply chains outperform on quality, costs, delivery and supply chain management

• The selective digitization approach delivering measurable gains in compliance and communication

Key Findings

• A Perfect Storm of Costs, Tariffs & Compliance: 79% of supply chains expect costs to be a major supply chain disruption in 2026, with materials, shipping, and labor pressures nearly doubling since 2024. Over 90% of US-and China-based networks were heavily hit by tariffs in 2025. Half anticipate compliance struggles ahead, and 1 in 3 are still unsure which ESG rules apply.

• Diversification Delivers Growth: 43% of supply chains shifted sourcing locations in 2025 (US firms led at two-thirds). Tariff-affected companies were twice as likely to diversify and grew buying volumes far more often (39% vs 24%). New US business flowed mainly to Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and Mexico.

• Full Visibility Transforms Performance: The average business now maps 60% of its supplier network (up from 53%), yet only 18% have full end-to-end visibility. Fully mapped chains report dramatically easier quality control, compliance (nearly 2× easier), on-time shipping, cost management, and higher optimism for 2026.

• Targeted Digitization Drives Real Gains: 74% plan further digitization investments in 2026, with Europe and South America showing strongest momentum. Top priorities: quality & compliance, then visibility. Benefits already visible: smoother communication and fewer product-safety issues and supply chain disruptions.

Download this complimentary survey to get the full data and actionable insights for global procurement and supply chain management.

About the survey

QIMA’s 2026 Sourcing Survey draws on the experiences and forward-looking views of over 1,000 businesses with international sourcing networks across all major regions and industries. It combines quantitative data on 2025 outcomes with 2026 projections, highlighting real-world impacts of costs, tariffs, regulatory compliance, diversification moves, visibility progress and digitization adoption. The findings reflect a decade of cumulative learning and the current mindset of global sourcing professionals.

Get in touch with our sourcing and compliance experts today

FAQs

Who is this survey for? Sourcing, global procurement, quality, compliance, supply chain management and sustainability leaders at brands, retailers and manufacturers with international supply chains.

How recent is the data? The survey captures actual 2025 experiences and explicit 2026 projections from respondents, making it one of the most current global sourcing benchmarks available.

What makes this survey different? It combines hard data from over 1,000 companies with hundreds of real-world sourcing stories, plus clear links between challenges (costs, tariffs, ESG) and the strategies that actually deliver results (diversification, visibility, digitization).