A survey conducted in February 2025 found that the most important issue for ** percent of Americans was inflation and prices. A further ** percent of respondents were most concerned about jobs and the economy.

According to a survey from late December 2024, the two most important issues among Republican voters in the United States were inflation and immigration, with ** and ** percent ranking it their primary political concerns respectively. In contrast, only *** percent of Democrats considered immigration their most important issue. Inflation and healthcare were the leading issues among democrats in the U.S.

2024 General Election: Trump vs. Biden | RealClearPolling

According to a September 2024 survey of adults in the United States, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation were the most likely to vote in the 2024 presidential election, with ** percent and ** percent stating that they were definitely going to vote, respectively. In comparison, ** percent of Gen Z and Millennial Americans said they were definitely planning to vote in November.

According to exit polling in ten key states of the 2024 presidential election in the United States, Donald Trump received the most support from men between the ages of ** and **. In comparison, ** percent of women between the ages of ** and ** reported voting for Kamala Harris.

In December 2024, 11 percent of survey respondents said that the most important problem facing the United States was the high cost of living and inflation. Another 20percent said that the government and poor leadership was the most serious concern for the nation.

According to an October 2024 survey, young Americans were much more likely to vote for Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential elections. Of those between the ages of 18 and 29, 60 percent said they were planning on voting for Harris, compared to 33 percent who said they planned on voting for Trump. In contrast, Trump was much more popular among those between 45 and 64 years old.

The economy was seen by 49 percent of people in the UK as one of the top three issues facing the country in June 2025. The ongoing cost of living crisis afflicting the UK, driven by high inflation, is still one of the main concerns of Britons. Immigration has generally been the second most important issue since the middle of 2024, just ahead of health, which was seen as the third-biggest issue in the most recent month. Labour's popularity continues to sink in 2025 Despite winning the 2024 general election with a strong majority, the new Labour government has had its share of struggles since coming to power. Shortly after taking office, the approval rating for Labour stood at -2 percent, but this fell throughout the second half of 2024, and by January 2025 had sunk to a new low of -47 percent. Although this was still higher than the previous government's last approval rating of -56 percent, it is nevertheless a severe review from the electorate. Among several decisions from the government, arguably the least popular was the government withdrawing winter fuel payments. This state benefit, previously paid to all pensioners, is now only paid to those on low incomes, with millions of pensioners not receiving this payment in winter 2024. Sunak's pledges fail to prevent defeat in 2024 With an election on the horizon, and the Labour Party consistently ahead in the polls, addressing voter concerns directly was one of the best chances the Conservatives had of staying in power in 2023. At the start of that year, Rishi Sunak attempted to do this by setting out his five pledges for the next twelve months; halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce national debt, cut NHS waiting times, and stop small boats. A year later, Sunak had at best only partial success in these aims. Although the inflation rate fell, economic growth was weak and even declined in the last two quarters of 2023, although it did return to growth in early 2024. National debt was only expected to fall in the mid to late 2020s, while the trend of increasing NHS waiting times did not reverse. Small boat crossings were down from 2022, but still higher than in 2021 or 2020. .

The Economy was seen as the most important issue facing Germany as of June 2025, selected by 20 percent of people as a problem that month. Immigration was seen by 18 percent of people in Germany as a major issue, and was the second most-common response in the most recent survey. Germany's economic struggles Once the economic powerhouse of Europe, the Germany economy has been struggling for several years, and even shrank in 2023 and 2024. In part, this is due to external factors, such as the War in Ukraine putting an end to Germany's supply of cheap Russian gas, and a more protectionist global trade environment harming Germany's export-driven businesses. On the other hand, there has been a chronic lack of investment in the country, in part due to fiscal restraints built into the German constitution. Collapse of the traffic light coalition The issue of removing these fiscal restraints, in particular the "debt-brake", was the eventual reason that brought down the government of Olaf Scholz in late 2024. In power since the 2021 election, Scholz's government consisted of three political parties, Scholz's own SPD, the German Greens, and the pro-businesses FDP. The contradictions inherent in a three-party coalition eventually rose to the surface in late 2024, when the FDP leadership split with the government over economic policy, causing the collapse of the government. All three parties saw their vote share decline considerably, in the subsequent election in February 2025, with the FDP unable to clear the five percent threshold required to win seats in parliament.

Member countries are allocated votes at the time of membership and subsequently for additional subscriptions to capital. Votes are allocated differently in each organization. Each member receives votes consisting of share votes (one vote for each share of the Bank's capital stock held by the member) plus basic votes (calculated so that the sum of all basic votes is equal to 5.55 percent of the sum of basic votes and share votes for all members). Latest information about voting power is available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/leadership/votingpowers

As of July 2025, approximately 24 percent of people in the UK would vote for the governing Labour Party in a potential general election, behind Reform UK on 26 percent, with the Conservatives third on 16 percent. Since returning to power, support for the Labour Party has fallen considerably, with the government's sinking approval rating approaching the unpopularity of the previous government. Labour's return to power in 2024 On May 22, 2024, Rishi Sunak announced his decision to hold the 2024 general election on July 4. Sunak's surprise announcement came shortly after some positive economic figures were released in the UK, and he may have hoped this would boost his poor job ratings and perhaps also his government's low approval ratings. This was a long-shot, however, and as predicted in the polls, Labour won the 2024 general election by a landslide, winning 412 out of 650 seats. The sting in the tale for the Labour Party was that despite this large majority, they won a relatively low share of the votes and almost immediately saw their popularity fall in the second half of 2024. Sunak's five pledges in 2023 After a tough 2022, in which Britain suffered through its worst cost of living crisis in a generation, the economy was consistently identified as the main issue facing the country, just ahead of healthcare. To respond to these concerns, Rishi Sunak started 2023 with five pledges; halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce national debt, cut NHS waiting times, and stop small boats. By the end of that year, just one pledge can be said to have been fully realized, with CPI inflation falling from 10.1 percent at the start of 2023 to 4 percent by the end of it. There is some ambiguity regarding the success of some of the other pledges. The economy shrank in the last two quarters of 2023 but started to grow again in early 2024. National debt increased slightly, while small boat arrivals declined compared to 2022, but were still higher than in most other years. The pledge to cut NHS waiting times was not fulfilled either, with the number of people awaiting treatment rising in 2023.

As of July 2025, the political party that 18 to 24 year-old's in Great Britain would be most likely to vote for was the Labour Party, at 33 percent, with Labour also the most popular party among those aged 25 to 49. Reform UK was the most popular party for the 50 to 64 age group, with 29 percent of voters saying they would vote for them. For the oldest age group, the Reform was also the most popular, with 35 percent of over 65s intending to vote for them. Reform surge in the polls Since winning the last UK general election in July 2024, the ruling Labour Party have steadily become more unpopular among voters. After winning 33.7 percent of the vote in that election, the party was polling at 24 percent in April 2025, only slightly ahead of Reform UK on 23 percent. A right-wing populist party, Reform benefited from the collapse in support for the center-right Conservative Party in the last election, winning several seats at their expense. While the next UK general election is not due to be held until 2029, the government will be keen to address their collapsing approval ratings, in the face of Reform's rising support. Economic headaches for Labour in 2025 Although Labour inherited a growing economy, with falling inflation, and low unemployment from the Conservatives, the overall economic outlook for the UK is still quite gloomy. The country's government debt is around 100 percent of GDP, and without large tax rises and spending cuts, the government hopes to create a stronger, more resilient economy to reduce the deficit. While this is still a possibility, the UK's economic prospects for 2025 were recently slashed, with growth of one percent forecast, down from an earlier prediction of two percent. Although mainly due to external factors such as the threat of increasing tariffs, and general geopolitical instability, the UK's faltering economy will add further problems to the embattled government.

According to a December survey, Donald Trump's favorability among Republicans remained strong following the 2024 election, with 72 percent viewing him very favorably and 18 percent somewhat favorably. This overwhelming support from his party base contrasts sharply with Democrats, of whom 84 percent viewed Trump very unfavorably. Independents were more divided, with 47 percent expressing some degree of favorability towards the former president. Electoral college victory Trump's popularity among Republicans translated into electoral success in the 2024 presidential election. He secured 312 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win the presidency. This victory came as Trump won all seven swing states, some by significant margins, despite pre-election polls showing only a slight lead in most battleground states. Increased republican support The 2024 election saw Republicans gain ground across the country. Every state reported an increase in Republican votes compared to 2020, with New York showing the largest gain of 6.43 percent. New Jersey and Florida also saw significant increases of nearly five percent. This surge in Republican support led to Trump flipping six states that he had lost in the previous election, contributing to his decisive victory.

In the aftermath of the German Federal Election of 2025, the CDU were polling at around 29 percent of the vote as of late June 2025, with the party receiving 28.5 percent of the vote in the election held in February. The Ampel's woes continue in 2024 The Ampel coalition came to power in 2021 due to the surprise surge in support for the Social Democrats, who secured almost 26 percent of the vote in that election. Unwilling to re-enter a 'grand coalition' with the Christian Democrats, the SPD instead opted to create a coalition with the center-left environmentalist party, the Greens, and the free-market neoliberal party, the FDP. This unlikely coalition which promised to "dare to make more progress" (mehr Fortschritt wagen) has instead been mired by constant infighting between the three parties, as well as being hit by several external crises, most notably Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, the German economy's post-pandemic recovery has faltered, with the country being one of the few European countries to experience a recession in 2023, while one of the government's key economic plans - a special investment fund designed to bypass the constitutional debt brake - was struck down by the constitutional court in Karlsruhe. These factors have led to consistently declining support for the three governing parties, with the latest poll showing their combined share of the vote being only 33 percent, slightly more than the vote share of the Christian Democrats. While the Greens' vote share would remain roughly equal to what they achieved in 2021, the popularity of the SPD and FDP has collapsed compared to their 2021 levels. The Social Democrats are now the third most popular party in Germany, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party on track to achieve their worst election result since 1887. The Liberals (FDP), on the other hand, look likely to not gain any seats in the parliament at all in the next election, as they are currently falling below the five percent threshold to enter the Bundestag (federal parliament). The rise of the far-right in German politics The Ampel's loss has been the far-right's gain, as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has seen its fortunes rise consistently in opinion polls since the 2021 election. The party was originally founded to oppose plans for the EU to provide bailouts to struggling member states during the Eurozone debt crisis in the early 2010s, however, following the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis the party pivoted towards a hardline anti-immigration stance. Since then, the AfD has drifted consistently to the right, with one of the dominant factions, known as Der Flügel ("the wing"), being labelled far-right extremists and even, in some cases, fascists. While the federal-level party is currently led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupulla, members of the more moderate faction of the party, at the regional-level the party is often led by more extreme figures, such as in the state of Thuringia where party leader Björn Höcke has been labelled in the media as a far-right extremist. In January 2024, an article by investigative journalists brought to light secret meetings between AfD members and far-right supporters to discuss plans for mass deportations of foreigners from Germany, were the AfD to come to power. The scandal led to the largest street protests in the country so far this century, with estimates showing as many as 1.4 million people turning out across the country. Some protesters have even gone so far as to call for a constitutional ban against the AfD, claiming that they pose a threat to German democracy. The party suffered a drop in support in the aftermath of the scandal, with their share of prospective voters declining by four percent from their high-point in January of 2024. The Alternative for Germany currently is the party of choice for 18 percent of German voters, which would make them the second largest party in parliament after the Christian Democrats. While no other party currently says they would work with the AfD on a national level, this Brandmauer ("fire wall") may be tested in regional parliaments during 2024, as the party looks set to come first in several states in East Germany during the year.

According to the data from 2025, some 16 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Cancer ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.

The CNE (National Electoral Council) of Venezuela declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the 2024 elections with 51 percent of the votes. Since 2013, this is the third time the official results give Maduro the presidency. Nonetheless, Venezuela's government failed to provide enough evidence to back up the results. After the official announcement from CNE, the opposition published the platform "Resultados con Venezuela" for citizens to upload released tallies from different polling stations, these results give the victory to Edmundo González with around 67 percent of votes.

Poverty in Venezuela During the last few years, Venezuela has suffered from all sorts of shortages, from water and food to fuel and energy. In 2013, around 31 percent of households lived impoverished, by 2021, the figure was above 90 percent and around 68 percent were under the extreme poverty line. Food insecurity still plays an important role, during a 2022 survey, around 78 percent of Venezuelans were worried about running out of food. Venezuela also has the lowest minimum wage in Latin America, with a monthly salary lower than four U.S. dollars.

Not a positive economic outlook Despite having all to become one of the largest oil exporters in the world, the oil industry of Venezuela recorded more and more problems, including mismanagement of resources, production crises, and the increasing number of international sanctions. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Venezuela peaked in 2013, with over 372 billion U.S. dollars, to then plummet to 43.79 billion in 2020. The forecasts do not show signs of an economic recovery in the following years. Another of the main issues the Venezuela society faces is inflation, as of 2023, the country ranked with the highest inflation rate in Latin America with over 337 percent.

In the UK's general election of 2024 voter turnout was estimated to have been 60 percent, the lowest turnout since 2001, when it was 59.4 percent. Between 1922 and 1997 voter turnout never fell below 70 percent, but in 2001 it dropped to just 59.4 percent. Since that low point, voter turnout has gradually recovered and reached 72.2 percent in the Brexit Referendum of 2016, which is still some way off the peak of 83.9 percent recorded in the 1950 General Election. The trend of low voter turnouts in recent times is also reflected in the European elections, which had its lowest voter turnout in 2014 at 42.61 percent. Labour rides wave of discontent to power in 2024 Labour's victory in the 2024 general election was broadly anticipated, with Keir Starmer's party enjoying a comfortable lead in opinion polls from late 2021 onwards. This gap widened further during Liz Truss' short time as Prime Minister, following an acute economic crisis in late 2022 which saw her resign after just 44 days, and propel Rishi Sunak to power. Although Sunak restored a degree of stability after the reigns of his predecessors, Johnson and Truss, he ultimately failed to convince the public he could address the main issues facing the country. By the time of the election, Labour was seen as being more competent on the economy, immigration, and healthcare, the three major issues for voters on the eve of the election. Among prospective Labour voters, the main reason for almost half of people intending to vote for them was to "get the Tories out", compared with just five percent who agreed with their policies. A winter election in 2019 The irregular timing of the 2019 general election, which took place on December 12, 2019, was due to the political chaos caused by Brexit, and the failure of the UK to agree a deal to leave the European Union that year. The Conservatives won 365 seats in this election, achieving a large enough majority to get their Brexit deal approved in the House of Commons after three and a half years of political chaos. Although the Conservatives then led the polls throughout much of 2020 and 2021, their popularity proceeded to sink considerably, especially due to Boris Johnson's alleged involvement in a number of political scandals, particularly that of "partygate". Following an avalanche of resignations from his government, Johnson himself resigned on July 7, 2022, paving the way for Truss to succeed him a few months later

As of mid November 2023, the Socialist Party (PS) recorded 24 percent of voting intention for the 2024 Portuguese general elections. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) received 22 percent of voting intention, while CHEGA stayed at the 13.5 percent benchmark. The Left Bloc (BE), in fourth place, counted with the vote intention of 9.5 percent of respondents. Liberal Initiative (IL) had a voting intention of 8.4 percent.By the end of December, PS continued in the lead with 25.4 percent of voting intention, while PSD nearly achieved 23 percent. On December 21, it was announced that PSD, CDS and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM) would run in coalition under the name Democratic Alliance (AD). This coalition gathered 20.8 percent of vote intention in January 2024, while PS continued ahead, with 26.4 percent. In February, AD took the lead, gathering 24 percent of voting intention, while PS was left at the 22 percent benchmark. However, AD and PS took turns as the party with the highest voting intention during this month, which ended with PS again in the lead.March began with AD ahead, with 29 percent of voting intention, while the socialists had 23 percent.

Worries of the population ahead of the vote The Portuguese citizens went to the polls with well-defined concerns. As of November 2023, the state of the national health system was the issue that worried most people, with the country’s governance following closely. Corruption, which steamed the political crisis of 2023, was the third biggest concern of the population. In fact, 72 percent of people believed that corruption increased during the previous 12 months. Furthermore, the cost of living and inflation were among the main preoccupations of Portuguese nationals in 2024, as 55 percent of them declared that it was difficult or very difficult to live on current income, and 48 percent were of the opinion that the Portuguese economic situation got worse during the past year.

Maia Sandu, the incumbent president from the Party of Action and Solidarity, won the presidential election in Moldova in the second round held on November 3, 2024. Known for her pro-European Union (EU) stance, she gained 55.41 percent of the votes. Her main opponent, Alexandr Stoianoglo from the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, received almost 44.6 percent of the votes. The turnout exceeded 54 percent. Sandu also received the largest share of votes in the first round held on October 20, 2024, at roughly 42 percent. However, as the figure was below 50 percent, a second round took place. As Moldova navigates its path toward EU integration, the outcome plays a crucial role in shaping the country's direction. Moreover, the country faces a continuous population decrease, which is forecast at over eight percent between 2024 and 2029. Moldova's EU aspirations On the same day as the presidential election, Moldovan citizens voted in a referendum to amend the constitution and include a commitment to EU membership. According to the final results, 50.38 percent favored the amendment, reflecting the country's desire for closer ties with Europe, but also highlighting how narrow the difference between the in-favor and against votes is. Voter turnout and historical context The 2024 election saw a notable increase in voter participation, with turnout exceeding 51 percent in the first round. This marks a higher level of engagement compared to the first rounds of the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The election builds on the momentum of the 2020 race, where Maia Sandu emerged victorious in the second round with 58 percent of the vote, defeating Igor Dodon.

In U.S. presidential elections since 1964, voters in the 18 to 24 age bracket have traditionally had the lowest turnout rates among all ethnicities. From 1964 until 1996, white voters in this age bracket had the highest turnout rates of the four major ethnic groups in the U.S., particularly those of non-Hispanic origin. However participation was highest among young Black voters in 2008 and 2012, during the elections where Barack Obama, the U.S.' first African-American major party candidate, was nominated. Young Asian American and Hispanic voters generally have the lowest turnout rates, and were frequently below half of the overall 18 to 24 turnout before the 2000s.