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 .

South Africa faces sizable challenges, with unemployment and corruption topping the list of concerns among its citizens as of 2024. A recent survey revealed that 28 percent of its respondents view unemployment as the country's biggest problem, closely followed by corruption at 27 percent. These issues, along with load shedding, weak leadership, and crime, paint a picture of a nation grappling with complex socio-economic difficulties. Government performance under scrutiny The African National Congress (ANC) government bears the brunt of criticism, with 53 percent of South Africans holding the party responsible for the country's main problems. This dissatisfaction is further evidenced by a 2022 survey showing widespread disapproval of the government's handling of key economic issues. An overwhelming 93 percent believed the government performed poorly in keeping prices stable, while 90 percent criticized its failure to create jobs. The unemployment crisis is particularly acute among young South Africans, with the rate for those aged 15 to 24 reaching a staggering 60.8 percent in the second quarter of 2024. Corruption and economic concerns persist Corruption remains a pressing issue, with South Africa's Corruption Perception Index dropping to its lowest recorded level of 41 points in 2023. This decline underscores the ongoing struggle to combat corruption effectively. The impact of these challenges on the population is evident, with 45 percent of survey respondents expressing worry about financial and political corruption in December 2024. As the country continues to navigate these complex issues, addressing corruption and stimulating job creation will be crucial for improving the nation's economic outlook and public confidence.

A May 2024 survey revealed that the main worry Mexicans face are crime and insecurity. 57.1 percent of people surveyed. That does not come as a surprise when the victimization rate was over 22,000 victims per every 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. Moreover, violence and crime have an estimated economic cost of almost five billion Mexican pesos per year.

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.

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.

This statistic shows the results of a survey into the public perception of the biggest problems facing the country in Australia in July 2024. During the survey, 63 percent of respondents said they thought the most important problem facing Australia today was the cost of living in the country.

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.

Housing was seen as the most important issue facing the Republic of Ireland as of 2024, with 63 percent of respondents placing it as one of the top two issues facing the country. Housing was followed by rising prices and inflation as the second most important issue, selected as a top issue by 39 percent of Irish respondents.

In a survey conducted in May 2024, more than half of the people interviewed in Peru said that corruption was the most important problem in the South American country. The second most pressing issue according to public opinion, cited by slightly more than 39 percent of Peruvian respondents, was related to crime and public insecurity. Crime is also among the most mentioned problems by journalists and opinion leaders across Latin America.

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 the 2024 survey, 46 percent of adults worldwide stated access to treatment and/or long waiting times was the biggest problem facing the healthcare system in their country. Another 45 percent of adults mentioned that lack of staff was the biggest issue. This statistic shows the percentage of adults worldwide who stated select issues were the biggest problems facing the healthcare system in their country as of 2024.

In 2024, for the majority of Poles, air pollution was the biggest problem for cities in Poland. Too little greenery and an excess of sidewalks and roadways followed. Only three percent said that there were no problems.

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 Portugal, in 2024, health related issues were considered by the highest share of respondents to be the main current problem in the country, with 18 percent of respondents selecting it. Issues regarding salaries followed, chosen by 14 percent of respondents. Corruption and politicians were tied with seven percent. Immigration was mentioned as a problem by six percent of respondents.

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. .

The biggest worry for people in Switzerland in 2023 was health insurance premiums, with 56 percent of people citing this as their largest concern. Climate change, pensions, and the relationship between Switzerland and the EU rounded off the top four concerns. Climate change Climate change ranked as the second leading worry for the Swiss. Around 71 percent of people worldwide belief that their region will be severely affected by global warming in the next ten years. In some cases, this could even impact livelihoods, especially those in fields like agriculture or tourism, if the change in weather is drastic enough. Politically, global warming has been a hotly contested topic over the past few years, with some politicians denying its existence entirely and others desperately trying to reverse the damage already done to the planet. The climate crisis has also been ranked as the most severe global risk the world will face in ten years, according to more than 1,500 experts in academia, business, and politics. This highlights the seriousness of the problem and suggests that it will still be causing stress for the population in years to come. Stress and anxiety Climate change and environmental issues are some of the most important problems causing worry and anxiety in Switzerland.

As of 2023, finding employees with the right skills is the largest problem faced by European businesses of all enterprise sizes. Large business find skills shortages to be a larger problem than SMEs, with 72 percent of large business citing it as one of their three most pressing problems, with only 53 percent of micro-businesses saying so. On the other hand, SMEs are much more likely to cite regulatory obstacles, limited access to finance, and unfair competition as being more important issues for them than for large businesses.

In a survey conducted in 2024 among respondents from India, 27 percent said that unemployment was the primary concern for the country. 23 percent believed that inflation was a key challenge, followed by development. For 8 percent of respondents Ram Temple in Ayodhya was a concern.

This statistic shows the results of a survey into public perception of the biggest problems worldwide in Australia in 2019. During the survey, 45.8 percent of respondents in Australia said they thought the most important problem facing the world today was environmental issues.

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.