Immigration continues as the top concern facing Britain

• More than four in ten see immigration as an important issue for Britain, up slightly since June.
• Economic pessimism has lessened since earlier in the year, but the public remain deeply negative on the nation’s economic outlook

The July 2026 Ipsos Issues Index shows that immigration continues to be seen as the top issue facing Britain, with the economy in second place and the NHS and inflation both third. Fieldwork took place between 1 and 8 July, before the appointment of Andy Burnham as UK Prime Minister.

Forty-three per cent of Britons identify immigration as a key concern, an increase of four percentage points since June and the highest percentage recorded this year, although 41% were also concerned in January, February and May.

The economy remains second on 30%, although this represents a seven-percentage-point drop since June and is the lowest score for this issue since July 2025 (also 30%).

The biggest increase this month is in the proportion who see defence/foreign affairs as a big issue: it is the fifth-biggest issue for Britain this month on 18% overall, up 5ppt since June. Concern about defence is centred on Conservative and Green Party supporters (both 26%), graduates (25%) and those in social grades AB (24%).

Ipsos Economic Optimism Index
This month 13% of Britons expect the national economic situation to improve (+2 from June), 64% think it will get worse (-5 ppts) and 19% expect it to stay the same (+3 ppts). This gives a net economic optimism index (EOI) of -51. 

This is the joint-highest EOI rating this year (it was also -51 in February) and is an improvement on the -58 score recorded last month in June, continuing a gradual monthly improvement from an historic low of -72 in April. However, this score still languishes far below the long-term historical average of -19.

Even Labour party supporters remain split; 31% expect an improvement in the economy, 32% expect things to stay the same, while 35% expect the outlook to get worse – giving an EOI of -4 for this group. Yet this is significantly above the EOI scores for supporters of Reform UK (-77) the Conservative Party (-60) and the Green Party (-47), as well as the Lib Dems (-17).

Of the findings, Mike Clemence, Research Director at Ipsos, says:

As Andy Burnham kicks off his tenure as Prime Minister, he inherits an economic optimism score that is as low, if not worse, than as it was at the end of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss’s times as PM. Nearly two thirds of Britons expect the economy to worsen over the coming year. 

Few election-winning Prime Ministers have started their premiership with economic optimism this low for so long, although the one PM who did contend with this for the first year of their tenure was Margeret Thatcher. This underlines the pessimistic mood of the country that Andy Burnham needs to turn around.

Our data on the nation’s biggest issues from the final index of the Starmer era highlights some of his key challenges: immigration leads public perceptions, while the other top concerns - the economy, NHS, cost-of-living and defence – speak to the complex and competing demands of the British public.

Technical notes:

• Ipsos' Issues Index is the longest-running gauge of British public concerns. It is conducted monthly and has provided an overview of the key issues concerning the country for over 50 years. The answers are spontaneous responses, and participants are not prompted. 
• The Ipsos Economic Optimism Index measures citizens' expectations on whether the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next twelve months. This metric has been tracking the economic mood of Britons since 1978. 
• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,003 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Ipsos' telephone omnibus was used for this survey. Interviews were conducted between 1-8 July 2026. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.