The international league of economic gloom
One in seven Britons (14%) believe the economy is in good shape according to new research released today by Ipsos. The Ipsos Global @dvisor poll of 24 countries leaves Britain just ahead of Japan (11%), France (9%), Hungary (5%), Italy (5%) and Spain (4%) in the international league of economic gloom. The 14% of British adults that rate the economy as good represents a 3 point increase over a month.
Meanwhile, the citizens of the United States are twice as likely as Britons to be positive about their economy with 28% rating their economy as good. In Europe, the Germans and Swedes are by far the upbeat with around seven in ten saying their economy is in a good state (68% and 69% respectively).
Looking ahead to the next six months, just one in eleven Britons (9%) expect economic improvement. While most people in Germany and Sweden believe their economy is in a good way, they too are not expecting much improvement in the next six months (16% and 14% respectively)
Deputy Chief Executive of Ipsos, Simon Atkinson, said:
“The good news is that these figures aren't getting any worse. What's not clear is whether we are seeing green shoots or merely calm before another storm".
Technical note
Global @dvisor is a monthly online survey conducted by Ipsos via the Ipsos Online Panel system in 24 countries around the world.
For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 20,915 adults age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+.
The survey was conducted between 7th and 21st September 2012.
Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country Census data, and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points for a sample of 1,000 and an estimated margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20 per country of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in that country had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
