Despite the stumbling of the global economy in 2011, most people around the world are optimistic that 2012 will be a better year, according to a joint poll by the Reuters news agency and the French global market research company "Ipsos".
Almost three quarters of citizens in 24 countries believe that they have a brighter year ahead of them compared to 2011, Reuters reported on Thursday.
"This is the first ray of hope we've seen in years," said Ipsos Vice President Clifford Young. According to Yang, "all indications suggest that, while people are indifferent about the present, there are signs of hope for the future."
Optimism is highest in France and Indonesia, where 91 percent of the respondents believe that 2012 will be better than the previous one, followed by Brazil and India with 90 and 89 percent, respectively. However, not everyone sees such bright days ahead for humanity. Italy, Japan and Sweden are the least optimistic about the future and in them only 45, 46 and 55 percent of respondents expect that this year will bring better times.
Hungary with 56 and Great Britain with 58 percent are also among the least optimistic. "Europe is still troubled. It hasn't solved all its problems," Yang explained. "But North America, especially the United States, is showing signs of improvement," he said. In the USA, 74 percent of citizens expressed optimism around 2012.
Young believes that the survey results indicate cautious hope rather than the triumph of hope over experience. "People see that things are improving: there is a little more job stability, they are able to put a little more food on the table," he said.
However, out of a total of 21.245 adults surveyed from around the world, only four in 10 believe that the global economy will be stronger in 2012. Respondents in France, Hungary, Belgium, Italy and Sweden least believe that the world economy will achieve strong growth.
Emerging markets are less concerned, with most people in India, Brazil, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia believing the global economy will pick up momentum this year. The survey showed that the young, wealthy and educated have the most hope for this year.
Almost 80 percent of people under the age of 35 agreed that 2012 will be better, and 77 percent of citizens with high incomes, as well as 75 percent of highly educated people, share the same opinion. "The financially secure are less affected by the economic crisis. It is easiest for them to deal with economic turbulence," Yang concluded.
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