The economy, NHS and immigration remain the big three issues facing Britain

The January 2025 Ipsos Issues Index reveals that the economy continues to be seen as the most important issue for the country, while concern about the NHS has risen to equal immigration as the joint-second biggest issue.

Thirty-seven per cent of Britons say the economy is a big issue for the country. Concern remains relatively unchanged since November, seeing a small decrease of two percentage points. It also remains seen as the single most important issue facing the country, chosen by a fifth of Britons (19%).

The proportion mentioning the NHS as a big issue has risen five points since November to 33%. However, it remains below the score of 47% recorded at the time of the General Election in July 2024.

A third also say that immigration is one of the biggest issues for the country, meaning it is the joint second-biggest issue for Britain. Concern about immigration remains powerfully uneven: it is the biggest issue for Reform UK (76%) and Conservative (46%) supporters, as well as those aged 55+ (41%) and people in social grades C2DE (39%).

Inflation remains the fourth-biggest issue, although just 17% say it is one of Britain’s biggest issues, the lowest score since January 2022.

Concern about crime is also rising: although just 13% see it as an issue, this is a three-point jump on November and the third-highest score for the issue since the pandemic.

Mike Clemence, UK Associate Director, Trends & Futures at Ipsos said:

The British public start 2025 with the same concerns as in late 2024; the UK economy, the NHS and immigration are seen as the big three issues for the country. Concern about inflation continues to ebb, and we see signs that worry about crime may be beginning to rise after a long period of lower concern.

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 1,001 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 15-21 January 2025. 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.