Despite geographical distance and cultural difference, several societies in the world seem to agree on the political and social issues that concern them most.. This was demonstrated by the 'What worries the world' survey, applied to more than 20,000 people from 29 different countries.
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Its latest edition, published this Tuesday by Ipsos, reveals What are countries' main concerns on urgent global issues? and determines whether societies believe that things in their countries are going in the right direction.
The biggest concern between April 2020 and July 2021 was, as expected, covid-19.
Although the biggest concerns between April 2020 and July 2021 were, as expected, covid-19 and unemployment, different political and social events in the world They have led people to focus their concern on other areas.
These were the conclusions of the survey.
Inflation
For the last 23 consecutive months, inflation has been the number one global concern, reaching its highest level last year at this time, when two out of five people said that this was their biggest concern (43%).
This month, about one in three people (34%) in 29 countries identified inflation as the biggest concern in their country, reaching its lowest point since May 2022 (34%).
![Inflation in Argentina](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_vertical_content_new/uploads/2020/01/15/5e1f7166f3905.jpeg)
Argentina is the country where inflation is most worrying.
Argentina is the first country on the list, with 69% of people choosing rising prices of goods and services as their main concern; followed by Singapore (55%), Canada (55%), Australia (51%), Turkey (50%) and Poland (46%). The latter, reaching its lowest level of concern since December 2021, when it was 47%.
In the case of Argentine society, its anguish is due to the fact that the country closed 2023 with the highest inflation in the world (211.4%) and announced at the beginning of this year that the cost of living increased by 20.6% compared to December and 254.2% year-on-year, according to La Nación.
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Now, even though inflation concerns have been easing over the past four months, Countries such as Belgium, Great Britain and France increased their percentages of concern this month, with 34%, 40% and 44%, respectively.
![Inflation](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2022/02/04/61fd29f2146b3.jpeg)
About one in three people (34%) in 29 countries identified inflation as the biggest concern in their country.
Poverty and social inequality
Unlike inflation, mentions of poverty and social inequality have increased since the last monthwith three in ten people (30%) from 29 countries choosing it as a relevant issue.
However, despite being the second biggest global concern, no country on the list selected it as their top distress, except for Hungary (47%).
![Poverty in Argentina](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2024/02/29/65e0b3d6c3401.jpeg)
Protest against the shortage of food in soup kitchens and the austerity plan of the government of President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires.
This month, Argentina came in second place, after being fourth last month, with 45% of people citing poverty and social inequality as one of their country's most important concerns. Last year at this time the concern was 35%.
As in the previous point, the concern of Argentines about this issue is based on the social context that the country is currently going through.
![Poverty in Brazil](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_vertical_content_new/files/crop/uploads/2018/09/21/5ba5b8507ae65.r_1709265013469.0-85-875-1404.jpeg)
Poverty in Latin America.
According to the latest report from the Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University, the poverty rate in the country went from 49.5% in December 2023 to 57.4% in January of this year.
The projections would then indicate that there would be almost 27 million poor people, of which 7 million would be indigent, according to the Argentine entity..
The other countries that identified poverty and social inequality as one of their biggest concerns were Indonesia (45%), Brazil (40%), Thailand (37%), Germany (34%) and Colombia (33%). Contrary to other countries such as Poland (19%), Singapore (19%) and Israel (18%).
Crime and violence
On average, three out of ten people chose crime and violence as one of the main concerns in their country, reaching a slight increase compared to January.
This month, five of the six Latin American countries surveyed identified crime as their greatest distress. Chile tops this list, with seven in ten Chileans (69%), the highest level of concern for the nation on record.
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![Crime scene](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/files/crop/uploads/2022/10/31/63603f4a1835e.r_1709265013483.77-0-924-475.jpeg)
Five of the six Latin American countries surveyed identified crime as their greatest distress.
Eight out of ten countries with the highest homicide rates in the world are located in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mexico follows with 63%, a relatively high level after increasing 8 percentage points since January. Next come Sweden (60%), Peru (58%), South Africa (54%), Argentina (42%), Brazil (41%) and Colombia (40%).
That six of the top ten countries on the list are Latin American is no coincidence, since a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that eight out of 10 countries with the highest homicide rates in the world world are found in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The three countries that fear the least about this issue are Poland (8%), Hungary (8%) and Singapore (7%).
Who believes that their country is going in the wrong direction?
Finally, two in five people surveyed (40%) believe their country is going in the wrong direction. Peru, where almost nine out of ten people think that things in their country are going in the wrong direction, takes first place, followed by South Africa and France.
Instead, India, Singapore and Indonesia are the ones who most believe that their country is going in a good direction.
For their part, 61% of Colombians surveyed said that the country is moving in the wrong direction, as well as 68% of Chileans. On the contrary, 60% of Argentines believe that their country is doing things well, as do 55% of Mexicans.The other concerns identified by the countries, in order of importance assigned, are: political and financial corruption, unemployment, health care, taxes, climate change and immigration control.
![Concerns of the world](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2024/02/29/65e107ddd06ac.png)
Main concerns of the world.
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MARIA JULIANA GONZÁLEZ MERA
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
TIME
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