Data dive: 2023 in review

Living through 2023 felt like riding a rollercoaster.

There were some exhilarating highs over the past year with the World Health Organization finally(!) declaring an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency and red-hot prices cooling slightly in several countries. And there were some really sad lows, namely the start of the Israel-Hamas war and the continuation of the invasion of Ukraine.

2023 was also filled with record-breaking heat and fear-inducing reports about the impact artificial intelligence (AI) might have on all our lives in the years ahead. We, of course, polled people everywhere from Australia to the United States of America on all these timely topics and much more.

Here’s a look, month by month, at select Ipsos Global Advisor polls that show how people were feeling in a year that started with crushing anxiety about the cost-of-living crisis and ended with people being a bit less squeezed but still hurting from high prices.

1. January 2023: Really feeling the pinch
   As 2023 dawned, inflation was the No. 1 issue in the world for the 10th month in a row, as 40% (on average across 29 countries) said the cost of living was a key concern for their country — well up from 20% a year earlier.

   At the same time, concern about COVID-19 was fading away, as 13% said the pandemic was a top concern at the start of 2023 versus 35% who said the same at the start of 2022.

2. February 2023: Love was in the air
   For Valentine’s Day, Ipsos rolled out a survey revealing how satisfied people across 32 countries were with everything from their relationship with their spouse/partner to their romantic/sex life.

   One stat to warm your heart? Our polling finds the vast majority of people (84% on average globally) who are coupled up said they’re satisfied with their relationship with their spouse/partner.

3. March 2023: Men on women’s issues
   Ipsos’ annual polling for International Women’s Day found the majority (68% on average across 32 countries) agreed there’s inequality between men and women in terms of social, political, and/or economic rights in their country.

   Yet, a deeper dive revealed 55% of men (on average globally) believed the fight for women’s equality has gone so far it’s actually led to men being discriminated against.

4. April 2023: Our collective cross to bear
   Ipsos’ annual Earth Day polling found most believed businesses, government and individuals all have a responsibility to take action on climate change.

5. May 2023: Still feeling the pinch
   As spring wound down in the Northern Hemisphere, we reported on just how much people around the globe were hurting as the cost-living-crisis ground on.

   The eye-opening fourth wave of the Ipsos Global Inflation Monitor found 28%, on average across 29 countries, said they were finding it quite/very difficult to get by. Argentinians, in particular, were having a tough year as inflation soared into the stratosphere in the Latin American country.

6. June 2023: Waving the rainbow flag
   As the world celebrated Pride Month, Ipsos released new global polling revealing that Generation Zers are significantly more likely than older generations to identify as part of the LGBTQ2S+ community.   

7. July 2023: The robots are coming … to take our jobs?
   Everyone was chatting about ChatGPT, as well as AI more generally, this year and so were we. Our global polling about a range of AI issues found people were pretty nervous AI will either change or wipe out their job in the near-ish future.

8. August 2023: A highly political and personal issue
   As summer wound down in the Northern Hemisphere we rolled out our annual global polling on abortion. A closer look at the data found older women, on average globally, are the most supportive of abortion being legal and younger men are the least supportive.

9. September 2023: The future is now
   With many kids, teens and young adults returning to classrooms around the world, we introduced our first-ever Ipsos Global Education Monitor.

   We continued asking about worries related to technology and AI, this time taking the temperature on a hot topic — whether AI should be banned in schools and found almost half of parents with kids in school (on average globally) didn’t think the nascent tech should be banned.

10.  October 2023: Mental health is health
    For World Mental Healthy Day, we released our annual mental health survey and found many of us are capital “S” stressed these days and finding it hard to cope amid such tough times (a.k.a. the polycrisis).

11.  November 2023: Climate anxiety grows
    During a year that the United Nations now says will go down in the history books as the hottest year ever recorded, it’s little surprise there’s been an increase in worry about natural disasters as floods and fires related to climate change become more common around the world.

    Ipsos’ annual global polling for the Halifax Security Forum found the proportion of people who feel a major natural disaster taking place in their country is a somewhat/very real threat rose to a global country average of 70% in 2023, up from 66% in 2022 and 58% in 2015.

12.  December 2023: Sticky inflation sticks around
    As 2023 wound down, the fifth wave of the Ipsos Global Inflation Monitor found many people were still struggling financially, though feeling a tad better year-over-year.

    And shoppers, in particular, weren’t feeling great about seeing some products shrink as prices stayed the same price (a.k.a. shrinkflation). While some understood companies getting *ahem* creative to balance the books almost half, 48% on average across 33 countries, said shrinkflation is unacceptable.