After soaring to an all-time peak in 2021, the global M&A market has hit the pause button. Early 2022 saw the value of large deals (more than $25 million) fall 24 percent from a year earlier, on a 12 percent drop in deal volume.

But the 2022 numbers match healthy, prepandemic levels and are especially notable in a time of great uncertainty. Geopolitical instability, spiking inflation, supply chain issues, skittish capital markets, regulatory changes—all these factors, and more, are fueling uncertainty.

And as Andy West, global coleader of McKinsey’s M&A Practice, says, “Uncertainty always weighs on decision making, and M&A is a big decision for deal makers. So naturally we’re seeing a bit of a slowdown.”

According to the McKinsey M&A Practice review of the global M&A market, 2022 activity has declined, but only slightly. Deal makers in the Americas have been the most active traders, delivering almost half of worldwide deal value (48 percent, versus 52 percent for all of 2021). Europe, the Middle East, and Africa’s share is up slightly (28 percent, versus 26 percent), as is Asia–Pacific’s share (24 percent, versus 22 percent).