Global consultancy firm Bain & Company's biennial survey includes insights from 166 CEOs and COOs, primarily from companies generating revenues over $1bn, and a substantial portion from those exceeding $5bn and $10bn.
Results from the study indicates a significant uptick in companies either planning or actively engaging in reshoring and nearshoring initiatives. The report also identifies the emerging concept of "split-shoring" where firms maintain a combination of offshore production alongside key manufacturing activities situated nearer to home.
According to the findings, 81% of CEOs and COOs now report plans to bring supply chains closer to their markets, marking an increase of 18 percentage points from 63% in 2022.
Additionally, nearly two-thirds (64%) of executives surveyed are investing in split-shoring (46%) and nearshoring (18%), while only 36% are pursuing further offshoring initiatives.
Notably, only 2% of companies claim to have fully realised their reshoring plans, indicating that many efforts are still ongoing.
The acceleration in reshoring efforts reflects the impact of geopolitical instability, demands for sustainability, and the need for resilient supply chains following the pandemic. These factors have shifted priorities away from low-cost offshore manufacturing toward operations located closer to consumer markets.
Bain & Company partner and the firm’s performance improvement practice global head Hernan Saenz said: “We believe the current acceleration of reshoring across key markets worldwide is a crucial trend that demands CEOs’ attention.
“The multiple disruptions companies have grappled with since the pandemic mean the question for company leaders is no longer whether to reinvent supply chains but how to do that so their operations are made more cost-competitive, resilient, sustainable, and agile in responding to evolving markets and customer needs.”
The analysis also notes that trends toward deglobalisation are influencing reshoring decisions.
Concerns regarding economic decoupling have led to a more than 25% increase in companies aiming to lessen their reliance on China. The proportion of businesses planning to move operations out of China has risen from 55% in 2022 to 69% in 2024.
In the US, where 39% of respondents are based, reshoring efforts have been further propelled by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) enacted in 2022.
This legislation provides subsidies and tax credits aimed at encouraging reshoring and nearshoring activities to enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities and job creation — especially in critical sectors like semiconductors, clean energy technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines, as well as electric vehicle supply chains.
Bain & Company partner in the firm’s performance improvement practice and supply chain practice global lead Adam Borchert said: “The powerful forces driving the patterns of re-shoring, nearshoring and split-shoring that our findings show will persist and confront company leaders with the challenge and opportunity of transforming their supply chains for reshaped global markets.”
