Inflation was the most worrying topic worldwide as of January 2025, with one third of the respondents choosing that option. Crime and violence as well as poverty and social inequality followed behind. Moreover, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, nine percent of the respondents were worried about military conflict between nations. Only four percent were worried about the COVID-19 pandemic, which dominated the world after its outbreak in 2020. Global inflation and rising prices Inflation rates have spiked substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. From 2020 to 2021, the worldwide inflation rate increased from 3.5 percent to 4.7 percent, and from 2021 to 2022, the rate increased sharply from 4.7 percent to 8.7 percent. While rates are predicted to fall come 2025, many are continuing to struggle with price increases on basic necessities. Poverty and global development Poverty and social inequality was the third most worrying issue to respondents. While poverty and inequality are still prominent, global poverty rates have been on a steady decline over the years. In 1994, 64 percent of people in low-income countries and around one percent of people in high-income countries lived on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars per day. By 2018, this had fallen to almost 44 percent of people in low-income countries and 0.6 percent in high-income countries. Moreover, fewer people globally are dying of preventable diseases and people are living longer lives. Despite these aspects, issues such as wealth inequality have global prominence.

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.

In this 2018 survey, eight percent of respondents stated they think the biggest problem for the United States today is Donald Trump. In fact, most of the important problems mentioned are somehow related to the current POTUS – the most mentioned one being immigration and racism.

A country divided

Since Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, political camps in the United States are deeply divided and global politics is in turmoil; Trump’s job approval ratings are notoriously low, and in fact, they are lower than Reagan’s or Nixon’s averages ever were. Trump’s leadership is controversial at best and his executive orders often cause protests, especially among Democrats and liberals – like the travel ban for Muslims.

On the other side

One of Trump’s main campaign promises was a wall on the border with Mexico in order to keep potential illegal immigrants out and enhance security for American citizens. When he did not get the majority for this plan, he declared a national emergency to force the budget to be allocated, even though the majority of Americans did not support this idea, and it is unclear if the situation at the Mexican border actually warrants it. In fact, the total number of unauthorized immigrants has decreased over the last few years and today, many Americans believe that their country benefits from immigrants and their work .

A survey conducted in February 2025 found that the most important issue for 24 percent of Americans was inflation and prices. A further 12 percent of respondents were most concerned about jobs and the economy.

In 2024, polluted drinking water was the most concerning environmental issue among adults in the United States. 55 percent of respondents worried a great deal about pollution in drinking water quality, while 52 percent had similar worries about pollution in waterways. Meanwhile, 42 percent of American adults worried a great deal about both global warming or climate change and air pollution. The share of Americans who worried about air pollution has fallen since 1990.

As of Spring 2023, the most important issue facing people in the Netherlands was that of the environment and climate change, with over a majority of respondents selecting this option as being in one of the two most important issues. By comparison, relatively few people named the government debt or unemployment. Just one percent of people thought that terrorism was one of the most important issues.

 Concern about global warming   

Climate change is a top concern among all generations in the Netherlands. A 2018 poll in which respondents were asked whether they consider global warming problematic or not, over two thirds of respondents in all age groups stated to consider it (very) problematic. Concern was highest among those older than 55 years (78 percent), but among the participants younger than 35 years 67 percent also stated to consider climate change a problem.

Fear of terrorist attacks  

 Although relatively few people stated to consider terrorism one of the main issues, another 2021 survey found that terrorism is still something that worries a considerable amount of Dutch. Almost 70 percent of survey participants answered to worry a lot about terrorism, whereas only 29 percent did not worry at all about it, or very little.

A 2024 survey found that over half of U.S. individuals indicated the cost of accessing treatment was the biggest problem facing the national healthcare system. This is much higher than the global average of 32 percent and is in line with the high cost of health care in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries. Bureaucracy along with a lack of staff were also considered to be pressing issues. This statistic reveals the share of individuals who said select problems were the biggest facing the health care system in the United States in 2024.

According to the data from January 2024, 22 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Mental health 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.

In a survey conducted between 2022 and 2023, stark divisions between Democrats and Republicans emerged on a number political issues. One of the most pronounced disparities was in regards to government responsibility for ensuring universal healthcare access, with less than one-third of Republicans in favor compared to 85 percent of Democrats. Furthermore, environmental protection emerged as another polarizing topic, with just 26 percent of Republicans prioritizing it over energy development, in contrast to the 81 percent of Democrats who regarded it as a top priority.

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 25 and 22 percent ranking it their primary political concerns respectively. In contrast, only two percent of Democrats considered immigration their most important issue. Inflation and healthcare were the leading issues among democrats in the U.S.

In a survey conducted in 2022, 64 percent of the opinion leaders and prominent journalists surveyed in Latin America said that job creation and economic growth was the most important problem Latin America would face in the incoming 18 months. The second main issue according to these experts was inflation and economic instability.

In general, the younger U.S. generation is more concerned about climate change than the older generations. Between 2015 and 2018, 51 percent of those between 18 and 34 years of age agreed that global warming would pose a serious threat within their lifetime, while only 29 percent of those aged 55 years and older agreed with the statement. This likely reflects the different time periods that are experienced by each age group, where older generations will have less time in their lives for the effects to be realized. A larger percentage of the younger generation also believed that climate change was a very serious issue in comparison to the older generations. About 58 percent of the younger respondents believed there was a scientific consensus regarding climate change as of January 2018. The differences in the perception of climate change may also be due to the exposure and education of younger people in climate change discussions as well as the relationship between age and political ideology.

Climate and political ideology
Overall, about 53 percent of U.S. adults believe that global warming is mainly caused by human activity. However, there is a great disparity between political beliefs where 83 percent of people who identified as Liberal Democrats believe in anthropogenic climate change, in comparison to that 18 percent of identified Conservative Republicans were in agreement. This discrepancy can also be seen in politicians and their opinions on acting on climate change.

During a July 2024 survey fielded in 10 Central and South American countries, approximately 29 percent of responding exhibition companies said they viewed the state of the economy in their home markets as the industry's most important issue. Internal management challenges and competition from within the exhibition industry followed, mentioned by 17 and 12 percent of respondents, respectively. Meanwhile, in North America, the leading challenges of the Mexican exhibition industry also included the state of Mexico's economy and internal management-related obstacles.

According to a survey conducted in 2023, 55 percent of Americans said that they disapproved of the way President Biden was handling the issue of immigration and the issue of guns in the United States. A further 45 percent said that they disapproved of the way President Biden was handling the issue of race in that year.

The economy was seen as the most important issue facing Germany as of March 21, 2025, selected by 27 percent of people as a problem that month. Immigration and integration was seen by 26 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.

According to the data from January 2023, 12 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. While COVID-19 and cancer each with 11 percent ranked second on the list. Health issues like alcoholism, stroke, and rare diseases were considered important issues by only one percent of respondents.

Issues with healthcare costs

Currently, 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 issue

The 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. By early May 2023, the U.S. has witnessed more than 200 mass shootings, the surge in the frequency of firearm attacks is alarming. 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 economy was seen by 51 percent of people in the UK as one of the top three issues facing the country in March 2025. The ongoing cost of living crisis afflicting the UK, driven by high inflation, is still one of the main concerns of Britons. Health has generally been the second most important issue since early 2022, possibly due to NHS staffing problems, and increasing demand for health services, which have plunged the National Health Service into a deep crisis. From late 2022 onwards, immigration emerged as the third main concern for British people, just ahead of the environment for much of 2023 and as of the most recent month, the second most important issue for voters. 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. .

This statistic shows the results of a survey among U.S. adults by gender on issues facing working women in the United States in September 2014. During the survey, 3 percent of men were of the opinion that access to childcare or better childcare is the most important issue facing working women and 41 percent of women were of the opinion that equal pay or fair pay is the most important issue facing working women in the U.S. today.

Per a survey carried out in July 2023, a majority of respondents in the United States confirmed that they believe AI should be regulated and that they are concerned about deep fakes. As a result, many are less firm in their belief that AI is currently safe and secure, with concerns around AI use by government agencies.

The average temperature in the contiguous United States reached 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) in 2024, approximately 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th-century average. These levels represented a record since measurements started in 1895. Monthly average temperatures in the U.S. were also indicative of this trend. Temperatures and emissions are on the rise The rise in temperatures since 1975 is similar to the increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. Although CO₂ emissions in recent years were lower than when they peaked in 2007, they were still generally higher than levels recorded before 1990. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and is the main driver of climate change. Extreme weather Scientists worldwide have found links between the rise in temperatures and changing weather patterns. Extreme weather in the U.S. has resulted in natural disasters such as hurricanes and extreme heat waves becoming more likely. Economic damage caused by extreme temperatures in the U.S. has amounted to hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars over the past few decades.