Ahead of a major global election year, populism remains strong

Paris, February 15th, 2024 - Ipsos, one of the world's leading market research companies, releases a study across 28 countries highlighting the strength of populism in these countries. It notably unveils the following key findings:

• Anti-establishment views are widespread, reflecting frustrations with inequality, slower growth, and the inability for governments to deliver. In a significant election year, 63% of people on average across 28 countries¹ believe their country needs “a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”.
  
  
• Populist sentiment is fuelled by a general sense among respondents that their country is in decline (58%) and that society is broken (57%), even in countries with good GDP growth.
  
  
• When jobs are scarce, 59% favour employers prioritizing hiring “people of this country” over immigrants.
  
  
• Majority (62%) see elites as a closely connected group with similar views on many important issues.
  
  
• Most want a stronger, more activist government, even given the anti-establishment fervour: Seventy-five percent support governments increasing their spending on healthcare, and 67% support governments increasing funding toward poverty reduction. Similarly, Ipsos’ Global Trends study finds that 74% fear their government will not provide enough support in the future.
  
  

Ipsos will be polling on elections around the world and will continue tracking these attitudes.
Access the full report: https://www.ipsos.com/en/populism-remains-strong

^{1 The “28-country average” reflects the average result for all the countries and markets where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result. All global numbers cited reflect this 28-country average.}

Technical note: Ipsos interviewed 20,630 people online in the following countries between November 22 and December 06, 2023. Quotas were set to ensure representativeness and data have been weighted to the known population profile of each country. The sample consists of approximately 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online. 

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Attachment

• Press release - Ipsos Populism Survey