36 countries rated 2022 and shared their outlook for the future, shocking Hungarian results

Hungarians have a gloomier outlook now than they did during the pandemic, while the rest of the world rated 2022 as better than the previous one, according to an Ipsos survey involving 36 countries. Locals fear a global recession.

Ipsos conducted an online poll in 36 countries across five continents, asking people to rate 2022 and share their general outlook for the new year, index.hu reported.

Apparently, Saudi Arabia was the most optimistic country, with only 44 percent of its citizens expressing pessimistic sentiments regarding the current year. Interestingly, most people felt less negative about the happenings of 2022. Despite that, Hungarians were among the most hopeless with 66 percent. Turks rated their circumstances as the worst while Israelis were the most content with the direction in which they are headed.

87 percent of Hungarians polled reckoned that 2022 only brought bad things for their country, while this rate was only 73 percent on the global average. 8 percent more Hungarians rated the current year as more misfortunate than in last year’s survey. The average pessimism among residents in other countries fell by 4 percent compared to last year.

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Disappointing outlook for the future

The survey also looked at the general public’s outlook for 2023, with 79 percent of respondents expecting inflation and price rises to exceed the current rate. The majority of people shared doubts that wage rises would ever match inflation. 68 percent expected higher unemployment, half of those surveyed were concerned about a possible stock market crash, while some did not even rule out the likelihood that their country would soon need help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Only 40 percent believed that the war in Ukraine would end in 2023, with Indians being the most confident and the Japanese the most pessimistic. Hungarians were in the middle with 36 percent. Related to this issue, 54 percent of all respondents feared a possible nuclear attack, which rate was 20 percent higher compared to the year when the war broke out.

In regard to climate change, 83 percent of Indonesians expect extreme weather events, while Saudi Arabians are the least worried about that matter.

Only 65 percent of Hungarians fear worsening climate conditions, which leaves us in the middle of the scale.

Regarding the coronavirus, 60 percent of respondents do not expect further restrictions. 56 percent reckon that more and more people will live in the online world, while 37 percent see no realistic chance of a four-day working week.

When asked whether people would be more tolerant in the coming year, 34 percent of the respondents gave a positive answer. Only 14 percent of Hungarians and 12 percent of Japanese citizens viewed the matter negatively. Taking all questions into consideration, Hungary had the highest number of ‘no’ responses, a total of 77 percent.

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Source: index.hu