Czechia at the crossroads. A return of optimism?

Politics 

The beginning of this year was marked by the presidential elections. After ten years of Miloš Zeman in office, the Czech public directly elected Petr Pavel, a retired army general and former Chair of the NATO military committee. 

In its latest model, before the second round of the presidential election, Ipsos measured a result that differed by only a few tenths of a percentage point from the actual outcome of the election.  

The Czech government is in the middle of its term and the public trust in its top leaders is rather low. Moreover, disillusion is running high among some voters, which the opposition is trying to exploit. 

Economy 

Czech economic indicators are among the worst in Europe. For a long time, the Czech Republic has had one of the highest inflation rates in the EU, but neither the government nor the central bank seemed to be able to find a viable recipe to curb it. At the beginning of September, a conference of economic associations “Czechia at the Crossroads” was held. Companies and consumers alike view the Czech economy as stagnant and in need of major strategic investment and a reboot. After all, the Czech PM's current campaign is also focused on an economic restart. 

Society 

Last year, Czech society showed a great deal of solidarity when the country took in 300,000 Ukrainian refugees. People then made large contributions of their own money to Ukraine, both for humanitarian and military aid, despite the fact that they were being battered by record inflation and high energy costs. It was inflation that was the biggest problem for consumers in 2022 and this has persisted in 2023. Although consumer optimism about the improving economic situation seems to be rising, new challenges are emerging that may play a more important role in 2024. Namely security and immigration. 

Jakub Malý

Country Manager, Ipsos in Czechia