Terrorism jumps up +11 points to sit as the 3rd biggest worry of Indians.
Mumbai: Optimism level of Indians is up 3% in May, with 65% of citizens believing India is moving in the right direction, on the back of Operation Sindoor. India retains its 4th rank in optimism on how the country is doing.
Interestingly, the top ranks in optimism have been bagged essentialy by countries from global south, which underscores the shifting axis of economic order. The markets most optimistic about how their country is being run and performing were: Singapore (77%), Malaysia (69%), Indonesia (67%), India (65%), Argentina (56%),
Thailand (45%) and Mexico (45%). The markets least optimistic about how their country is doing, included: Peru (9%), South Korea (15%) and France (19%).
Global citizens were seen to be more pessimistic than optimistic, with only 37% believing that their country is moving in the right direction.
Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India said, “Handling of Operation Sindoor by the govt and the armed forces has underscored people’s faith in the system. That our administration is geared to offset external challenges in the best interests of the citizens and the country. Providing a renewed boost of optimism.”
Our monthly What Worries the World survey explores what the public thinks are the most important social and political issues and whether they feel their country is on right track or wrong track.
What worries Indians and global citizens?
India’s worries
Indians continue to worry about inflation (37%, -2%) and unemployment (33%, -2%), with worry level receding around the 2 issues. The 3rd new worry emerging was: terrorism (26%) with a +11% jump from previous round, displaying the concern of Indians post the Pahalgam terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir when 26 tourists lost their lives.
World worries
Global citizens’ top three worries emerging in May 2025were, inflation (33%, =), crime and violence (33%, +1%), and poverty and social inequality (29%, +1%)
“Indians’ worry around the two key macro issues of inflation and unemployment has stabilized in May 2025, and terrorism has moved up with a sudden spike to sit at the 3rd spot, highlighting the distress the Pahalgam terror strike on innocent tourists, caused the collective minds of citizens,” stated Adarkar. .
Spotlight: South Korea
Ahead of the South Korea presidential election next week, we look at how people are feeling in the country.
South Korea is second from bottom on our list in terms of the proportion of people saying their country “is heading in the right direction”, with only 15% stating so. A similar sentiment is also felt about the economy. Pessimism is usually the standard for South Korea; however, their economic indicator score has been particularly low in recent times, with just 8% believing the economy is “good”.
These attitudes are reflected in the country’s top worries this month. Concern for unemployment has jumped seven points to 45%. Additionally, after martial law was enacted, worry about corruption has remained high with 44% mentioning it. Furthermore, nearly two-fifths (38%) say inflation is a top priority.
To provide further context, Hwanglye Park, CEO Ipsos in South Korea says:
“The prolonged domestic political uncertainty in South Korea after failure of martial law by ex-president, coupled with concerns over the US tariff policy, has led to a deterioration in economic sentiment.
Additionally, temporary factors such as large-scale wildfires, construction halts at some sites, and a hacking attack on the country’s top telecommunications company leading to subscriber data leaks, appear to have influenced the economy negatively, resulting in slowed economic growth, falling prices, and contracted investment.
The manufacturing sector continues to decline, particularly focusing on non-IT industries, while the construction sector faces deepening downturns due to the construction market slump. This has contributed to reduced growth in employment numbers, heightening anxiety about the job market.
Moreover, political conflict and instability persist as the country approaches the presidential impeachment trial (April 4) and the 21st presidential election (June 3), further impacting the What Worries the World results in South Korea.”
Methodology
This 30-country Global Advisor survey was conducted between April 25th 2025 and May 9th 2025 via the Ipsos Online Panel system among 500 adults aged 18-74 in Canada, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Türkiye and the United States, 20-74 in Indonesia and Thailand, 21-74 in Singapore, and 16-74 in all other nations.
The “Global Country Average” reflects the average result for all the countries where the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country and is not intended to suggest a total result.”
The sample consists of approximately 1000+ individuals in each of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and the US, and approximately 500+ individuals in each of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Türkiye.
The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online.
The samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the US can be taken as representative of these countries’ general adult population under the age of 75.
The samples in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Türkiye are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these markets should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of these populations.
India’s sample represents a large subset of its urban population — social economic classes A, B and C in metros and tier 1-3 town classes across all four zones.
Weighting has been employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent census data.
The precision of Ipsos online polls are calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of 1,000 accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of 500 accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.
Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of don’t knows or not stated responses.
The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations.