What Worries the World - April 2024

Our monthly What Worries the World survey explores what the public thinks are the most important social and political issues, drawing on more than ten years of data to place the latest scores in context.

Inflation remains the number one concern for the 25th consecutive month, but worry is at its lowest level since April 2022.

Key findings

• Inflation has been the number one global concern overall in our What Worries the World survey for over two years.
• However, worry over rising prices is at its lowest level since April 2022.
• Poland is now the most worried country about military conflict, with two-fifths (40%) concerned.
• A third (33%) of Singaporeans are worried about climate change after a significant increase from last month.

Inflation

Thirty-four per cent say inflation is one of the three biggest issues affecting their country. While the cost-of-living has been the number one concern in our survey since April 2022, worry is falling. The last time concern for inflation was this low was April 2022 (33%).

Argentina remains the most concerned country, where it has been since November 2022. However, the gap between Argentina and other countries is narrowing. In April 2024, Singapore is the second most worried country about rising prices with 61% choosing it as an issue, up ten percentage points compared to last month.

The US is now the fifth most concerned country with 45% choosing it as worry. In February, concern about inflation had fallen to 39%, the US’s lowest figure since spring 2022, but worry has now risen for the last two months.

Climate Change

The percentage mentioning climate change across 29 countries is at 17%, no change from last month.

Singapore has increased significantly this month, climbing 11pp to 33% seeing it as an issue. This time last year, only 18% of Singaporeans mentioned climate change.

Another Asia Pacific country, Malaysia, has also seen a rise in concern. Mentions are up 3pp to 14%. This is the second highest score for Malaysia regarding climate change.

Elsewhere, levels of concern in Europe tend to be down somewhat, with the exception of Spain, whose level of worry has risen to 20%.

Military conflict between nations

One in ten (10%) pick military conflict between nations, no change from last month.

The fieldwork was completed before the recent escalation between Iran and Israel on the 13th April.

Israel has been our most concerned country regarding military conflict since November 2023. This month, however, sees the nation drop to second after decreasing 6pp from March to 39%. That said, this is still a relatively elevated level of worry for Israel.

Poland is again the most worried country about military conflict. Worry has increased by 6pp to 40%. In January, the proportion of Poles citing conflict was 23%. April 2024’s score for Poland is the country’s highest level of worry for military conflict since the issue was added in April 2022.

Right direction vs wrong track monitor

Four in ten (38%) across 29 countries think their country is headed in the right direction. This is unchanged from the previous month and is slightly lower than the 41% who were happy with their country’s progress back in January.

Argentina is the fifth most positive country this month and the most positive in LATAM. 62% of Argentinians say the country is headed in the right direction. This sentiment has changed a lot in the last year. In April 2023, Argentina was the most negative with how their country was doing and just 10% said they were happy with its direction.

In April 2024, it’s a different Latin American country at the bottom of the list with just 13% of Peruvians happy with how their country is doing.