Africa is the most optimistic region

The survey asked “So far as you are concerned, do you think that 2007 will be better, or worse than 2006?”

43% of the 48,500 people who were interviewed in the same Survey in 53 countries across the world thinks that 2007 will be a better year than 2006.

Optimism is particularly high in countries which are upbeat about economic prospects and do not have major concerns about unemployment or industrial disputes increasing in 2007.

On the international front, over a third of those interviewed globally (35%) felt 2007 would be a troubled year, with much international discord; whilst only just over one in ten felt it would be a peaceful year (14%), the remaining 42% feeling that internationally, things will stay much as they were in 2006.

Looking at regions across the world, as in previous years, Africa is the most optimistic region, whilst Western Europe is the least optimistic about prospects for the coming year.

Turning to the results for individual countries, once again, Vietnam is the most optimistic place in the world, with more than nine out of every ten citizens interviewed in the four main cities (94%) saying 2007 will be better than 2006. Hong Kong is also very optimistic; with three quarters (74%) believing the coming year will be better than the outgoing one, closely followed by six Chinese cities where 73% thought the same.

Ghana follows as the 4th most optimistic country, with an almost identical proportion of Nigerians (66%) claiming the same. Next comes UN administered Kosovo where 65% think 2007 will be a better year.

The survey also shows that these results are remarkably consistent – Vietnam has been at the head of the optimists’ league for the last 4 years. Similarly, UN administered Kosovo has occupied one of the top places for the last 6 years. Africa is also consistently optimistic despite the very many real problems that the continent faces. The cities in China and Hong Kong, where the economy is booming, are also regular optimistic locations.

All Europeans are gloomy about the economy – in Western Europe only 17% think the coming year will bring economic prosperity whilst a third (34%) feel 2007 will be a year of economic difficulty. In Eastern and Central Europe the figure is almost a quarter (23%) predicting prosperity and exactly the same proportion seeing economic difficulty in 2007. This may be because there is considerable anxiety about industrial unrest here – almost half of Western Europeans (46%) expect strikes and industrial disputes will increase in 2007, whilst only 7% think they will decrease. Eastern/Central Europeans are not quite so negative about prospects for strikes and industrial disputes – only a quarter (25%) think these will increase whilst half (50%) feel the level of unrest will stay the same as this year and 14% think it will decrease in 2007.

Nor are Americans upbeat about economic prospects –one in five (21%) think 2007 will be a year of economic prosperity whilst slightly more (26%) think it will be an economically difficult year. Four out of ten Americans (40%) expect unemployment to increase either a lot or a little in the USA, whilst only a quarter (25%) expects it to fall either a lot or a little.