International investors are more upbeat about the global economytoday than at any time in almost five years, buoyed by the U.S.-ledrevival of industrial nations, according to the Bloomberg GlobalPoll.

On the eve of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting inDavos, Switzerland, 59 percent of Bloomberg subscribers surveyedlast week said the economic outlook is improving. That's up from 33percent in November and marks the most optimistic result since thepoll began in July 2009.

Strength in the richest economies was cited as the main reasonfor confidence by almost two-thirds of the 66 percent who said theywere more positive than a year ago. While the Standard & Poor's500 Index has already risen about 24 percent in the past year, morethan half of respondents identified stocks as the asset of choice for 2014 as concern about assetbubbles eased.