Most worrying topics worldwide 2024

Inflation was the most worrying topic worldwide as of March 2024, with more than one third of the respondents choosing that option. Poverty and social inequality as well as crime and violence ranked second at 30 percent. Moreover, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, 10 percent of the respondents were worried about military conflict between nations. Only seven 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 were the second most worrying issues to respondents. While poverty and inequality are still prominent, global poverty rates have been on a steady decline over the years. In 1994, nearly 64 percent of people in low-income countries and around 1 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 of people in high-income countries. Moreover, less people globally are dying of preventable diseases and people are living longer lives. Despite these aspects, issues such as wealth inequality have global prominence.