Economy 2 September 2020, 4:21pm

Only one fifth of Hungarians name coronavirus as main concern

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46% of people around the world see coronavirus as one of the top issues affecting their country today, according to the findings of the latest What Worries the World survey published by Ipsos on Tuesday, which shows spikes in concern in many nations. COVID-19 is mentioned as the single top concern in 14 of the 27 surveyed nations and it is the biggest concern for the fifth successive month. While COVID-19 is back as the No.1 issue in Belgium, France and Germany, it is only the 6th in Hungary although a higher share of respondents named coronavirus as their top fear.

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Coronavirus remains biggest concern in August

COVID-19 is the biggest concern for the fifth successive month, with worries on the increase in a number of countries. On average, 46% of respondents around the world now say COVID-19 is the top issue facing their country. This is a small increase from July, when 43% cited the pandemic as the greatest concern albeit rather lower than the high of 63% registered when coronavirus was first added to the survey in April. This marks a change in direction from the gradual decline we had been seeing since April 2020.

The four major worries globally are currently (the sequence is the same as in July):

COVID-19 (46%, +3),
Unemployment (40%, =),
Poverty and Social Inequality (30%, -2),
Financial/Political Corruption, (27%, =) and
Crime and Violence (24%, =).

Coronavirus is the single top issue in 14 of 27 countries, up from 11 in July. Healthcare is just behindCrime & violence with just less than one-quarter (23%) of respondents across 27 countries saying this is currently an important issue.

The latest results may reflect anxiety in response to increases in cases of COVID-19 in some locations and the threat of re-entering local or national lockdowns. (The fieldwork was carried out between 26th July – 4th August)

, said Ipsos.

This month sees coronavirus becoming the top issue once again in Belgium, France and Germany, where we see significant increases in concern compared to last month (+21 percentage points in Belgium and +8 points in both France and Germany).

However, these three countries are by no means the most preoccupied with the threat coronavirus. We see the highest levels of reported worry in Japan (70%), Australia (67%), Malaysia (61%), Spain (60%) and Great Britain (58%). This chart shows the ten countries most concerned about coronavirus in August, and how they have changed from last month.

As regards Hungary, coronavirus is only the sixth major issue, with 20% of respondents naming COVID-19 as their key headache. Only the Russians are more relaxed than this (18%), while Japanese people show the greatest concern about the pandemic (70%, +11 percentage points), followed by Australians (67%, +19ppts).

Back in April, 61% Hungarians feared the coronavirus pandemic (No.1 concern), in line with the global average, leading the ranking of fears. In May, the virus slipped to fourth among possible concerns, with just 32% mentioning it. In June and July, only 15% of Hungarians mentioned the pandemic as their greatest fear, ranking the country only seventh, and in August COVID-19 advanced to the 6th spot as the No.1 issue (20%).

Healthcare remains the most worrying issue (59%, +3ppt) for Hungarians and it has been so since January 2018. It is followed by Financial/political corruption (53%, -1ppt), Poverty & social inequality (46%, -3), Education (27%, +10) and Unemployment (24%). Inflation that run wild amidst the coronavirus crisis is only the 9th main concern for Hungarians (11%, -4).

Heading in the right direction?

Overall, six in ten (61%) respondents across 27 nations say that things in their country are heading in the wrong direction – the same percentage as last month and the lowest so far in 2020.

For the United States, the figure of 74% saying that things in their country are on the wrong track represents a historic low in the nation’s optimism. It marks a dramatic change from the start of the year when 56% said the same. Just 26% of US respondents are confident about the trajectory their country is heading. This score marks a 9-percentage point drop from two months ago and an 18-percentage fall since January, when the US’s score placed it among the top 5 most positive nations in the 27-market survey by Ipsos. The country now sits at the other end of the scale among the countries with the gloomiest outlook.

Looking at how many say their nation is on the wrong track (61% on average), we find South Africa (84%), Belgium (82%), Chile (76%) and the US (74%) most worried about their country’s direction of travel.

Hungary is fifth with 73% of respondents saying the country is heading in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, ten nations have seen an increase in national optimism from last month with 13 nations showing a drop. The biggest changes are Russia (+ 10 percentage points) and Malaysia (- 10 percentage points). Only in four countries do more respondents say their country is heading in the right direction than the wrong direction (Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, India and Australia). There is a 50:50 split in Canada.