The economy and inflation remain the country’s biggest concerns, closely followed by the NHS

The economy, inflation and the NHS remain top concerns for Britons according to the October 2023 Ipsos Issues Index

The author(s)
  • Michael Clemence Trends & Foresight
  • Gideon Skinner Public Affairs
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  • Thirty-eight per cent name the economy as an important issue for Britain, while thirty-five per cent mention inflation
  • Three in ten mention the NHS as a big concern, up three points from September  
  • Immigration remains the fourth-biggest issue for the country, mentioned by 22% of Britons 
  • Concern about the environment/climate change falls, becoming the joint seventh-biggest issue this month 

The October 2023 Ipsos Issues Index shows the economy, inflation and the NHS remain the most mentioned important issues facing Britain. 

Thirty-eight per cent of the British public see the economy as an important issue for the country, almost unchanged since last month. It is most likely to be mentioned as the single biggest issue, selected by more than a fifth of Britons (22%). 

There has been a five percentage-point increase in concern about inflation, after it dropped to the lowest level since March 2022 last month. Thirty-five per cent see it as a concern, making it the second-biggest issue facing the country. 

Concern about the NHS has also risen, with almost a third (31%) now naming it as an important issue for the country. Concern is considerably higher among Labour party supporters compared with Conservative supporters (37% vs 21%).

Immigration remains the fourth-biggest issue for Britain, mentioned by 22%, which is a small decrease on the level of concern recorded in September (26%). Concern about this topic is uneven across the country: it is the joint-biggest issue facing the country for Conservative Party supporters, with 39% mentioning it, against 38% for inflation and 36% for the economy.  By contrast, just 15% of Labour supporters and nine per cent of 18-34 year olds mention immigration as a concern.

Housing has become the fifth biggest issue facing the country, mentioned by 16% of Britons – the highest score for this issue since the 2019 General Election. 

economy 38% / inflation 35% / NHS 31%

Mike Clemence, a researcher at Ipsos, said:

Public concerns are showing signs of change, from being solely economic to factoring in worry about the National Health Service and immigration. 
Housing is another rising issue, while the proportion who are worried about crime has reached double figures for only the second time since start of the pandemic

Technical note
Ipsos' Issues Index is conducted monthly and provides an overview of the key issues concerning the country. Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,017 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. The answers are spontaneous responses, and participants are not prompted with any answers. 
Ipsos’ telephone omnibus was used for this survey. Interviews were conducted between 4 and 11 October 2023. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.

The author(s)
  • Michael Clemence Trends & Foresight
  • Gideon Skinner Public Affairs

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