Survey: Nearly 40 percent of People Expect Better Year Than Last One

Bratislava, January 3 (TASR) – Almost 90 percent of Slovakia’s population expects that 2018 will be approximately the same or better than last year, TASR has learnt from Katarina Lepiesova from GfK Slovakia.

According to a survey that GfK Slovakia conducted in November 2017 on a sample of 1,000 respondents aged 15-79, just under 40 percent of people expect that this year will be better than 2017.

The poll shows that young people under 30 years of age are the most optimistic. Only about one tenth of the population expects that this year will be worse than the previous one. Nearly half of those who predict a better year believe that their financial situation will improve. More than two fifths of them expect their personal lives to be better than last year, and expectations in terms of work and success are also growing. Around 37 percent of people anticipate a better year when it comes to family and closest people. This holds especially for people under 30 years of age.

A better year in terms of their own health or that of their loved ones is expected by 28 percent of the people polled. These tend to be people aged over 60 years.

Up to 46 percent of the respondents considered 2017 to have been worse than the year before, mainly due to a deterioration in their financial situation. This is also a reason for pessimism in 2018, especially for people with a net monthly income of up to €800. A worse political situation in Slovakia is also expected by as many as 38 percent of those who expect a worse year overall. More than a third of these people also anticipate a deterioration in the overall economic situation in the country.

One third of the respondents expect their own health or that of their loved ones to deteriorate. Likewise, 33 percent predict that the general mood in Slovak society will be worse than last year.