India continues to be optimistic in April 2024, while most global markets are downbeat about the future: Ipsos What Worries the World global monthly survey

New Delhi/ Mumbai, April 30, 2024: About 3 in 4 urban Indians (73%) believe India is moving in the right direction in April 2024. Though there has been a 4 per cent dip over the previous month. The good news is, India continues to rank among the top 3 most optimistic markets and largely driven by global south, with the markets in the pecking order including Singapore (77%), Indonesia (75%), India (73%), Thailand (64%) and Argentina (62%). In sharp contrast, only 38% of global citizens said their country is on right track, with the markets at the bottom of the heap led by Peru (13%), Hungary (17%), France (20%) and South Africa (20%). 

Ipsos’ What Worries the World survey tracks public opinion on the most important social and political issues across 29 countries, covering 25,302 adults, apart from the direction of travel, of how confident citizens are about their country and its future.

What worries Indians?

The top issues worrying urban Indians included inflation (41%), unemployment (37%), education (25%), crime and violence (23%) and financial and political corruption (21%). While most global citizens were worried about inflation (34%), poverty and social inequality (30%), crime and violence (30%), unemployment (27%) and financial and political corruption (26%).

Interestingly, 19% urban Indians claimed to be worried about taxes.  

Elucidating on the findings of the Ipsos Global Advisor What Worries the World global monthly survey, Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India said,

“There is stability in the country and the nation is being steered responsibly, by surmounting global and local challenges – whether showing resilience to global challenges arising out of war in Ukraine and Israel, or combating rising cost of living, fuel prices, law and order and corruption, government has taken concrete steps to address some of these issues. With the election season in India in April and May, there will be a status quo on decision making by the incumbent government to address some of the issues impacting the citizens. Though the issues notwithstanding, unlike high level of pessimism rampant across global markets and the frustration and angst seen, three fourths of Indians polled are positive about how we are doing as a country. Though redressal of these issues can further elevate the mood of the masses and improve the quality of living. Month on month, Ipsos captures this pertinent information about 29 markets (including India) from their citizens, which provides local governments views of citizens and their top concerns.”        

Methodology

This 29-country Global Advisor survey was conducted between March 22nd 2024 and April 5th 2024 via the Ipsos Online Panel system among 25,302 adults aged 18-74 in Canada, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Türkiye and the United States, 20-74 in Indonesia and Thailand, 21-74 in Singapore, and 16-74 in all other nations.   The “Global Country Average” reflects the average result for all the countries where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country and is not intended to suggest a total result.” The sample consists of approximately 1000+ individuals in each of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the US, and approximately 500+ individuals in each of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Türkiye. The samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the US can be taken as representative of these countries’ general adult population under the age of 75. The samples in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Türkiye are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these markets should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of these populations. Weighting has been employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent census data. The precision of Ipsos online polls are calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website. Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of don’t knows or not stated responses. The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online using the IndiaBus platform.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members