What Worries the World – March 2026

Important note from the editor: this month’s fieldwork took place from February 20th to March 6th. The US struck Iran on February 28th.

Please be aware that the countries in our survey started and finished their fieldwork at different times within the timeframe. Some countries had completed their surveying before the conflict started and other countries completed after. Therefore, the data might not reflect current attitudes. For instance, and notably, the US fieldwork dates were between February 20th to the 22nd.

We will take a closer look at issues like military conflict between nations in next month’s edition. Meanwhile, take a look at a round-up of our latest releases on the war and its consequences.

World Worries: Long-Term Trends

Q: Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country?

Focus on Chile

In this month’s edition, we focus on Chile, which recently underwent a general election. The recent election campaign was dominated by themes of security, immigration, and crime. We investigated Chile’s data and asked Nicolas Fritis, Country Manager, Ipsos in Chile, his perspective:

Year-on-year change in concern about unemployment

% choosing unemployment as a worry (March 2025 vs March 2026)

This month, the proportion across 30 countries mentioning unemployment has risen two percentage points (pp) to 29%, putting it joint with inflation and poverty & social inequality. 

This is the highest it has been since February 2022, when it was also 29%. 18 out of 30 countries have seen some sort of increase from last month.

The concern about jobs seems to be widespread, with countries in LATAM, Europe, and APAC all experiencing increases in mentions.

Economic Situation Change: March 2025 – March 2026

Q: How would you describe the current economic situation in your country? Net "good"

Across 30 countries, four in 10 people describe the current economic situation in their country as “good”.

Since the new government took office in June 2025, South Korea has seen a significant increase over the past 12 months, up 33pp in March 2025 to 42%. This marks the country’s highest ever good economy score. 

Colombia (+20pp), Peru (+16pp), and Chile (+13pp) have also seen large year-on-year increases in their good economy score. 

At the other end of the scale, Mexico has seen the largest year-on-year decrease, down 11pp from March 2025.