The majority of Pakistanis consider inflation and unemployment as the most worrying issues ailing the country, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos, a multinational market research company.
The firm sought the opinion of respondents of different genders across the four provinces and the urban-rural and socio-economic divides with a sample size of 1,048 individuals.
According to the survey held between 24 February and 1 March, over 44 percent of Pakistani citizens consider the increase in inflation as a top concern, while only one percent rate the ‘lack of facilities in healthcare and treatment’ as their main concern.
Since August 2019, unemployment and inflation have constantly been the biggest worries for Pakistanis. In March 2021, 12 percent more respondents reported being concerned about inflation.
Four in five respondents believe that the country is heading in the wrong direction and the situation worsened by seven percent in the past year alone. Similarly, one in two respondents foresees the economy to be weak for the next six months.
A further breakdown of the survey results reveals that only eight percent of Pakistanis rate their current financial situation ‘strong’, while those who decisively call it ‘weak’ have increased by 15 percent since March 2021.
Despite the fact that the survey’s sample size reflects only a single iota of the population, more than half of those surveyed expect their financial status to worsen in the next six months.
Reflecting on the past year, 86 percent of Pakistanis are less confident about job security as compared to the corresponding period a year earlier.
About 50 percent of Pakistanis claimed to personally know someone who lost his/her job as a result of economic conditions, compared to last year when the situation was reportedly much better.
Moreover, the data shows that 84 percent of Pakistanis are not confident about their ability to invest in the future. More analysis revealed that 85 percent of the respondents are not confident about making a major purchase, while another subset of 85 percent individuals are less comfortable in making household purchases.
Compared to the same month last year, Pakistan Consumers’ Confidence Index has gone down by only 8.3 points, which is the lowest among similar emerging markets.
Conversely, eight percent of Pakistanis rate the current state of the economy as ‘strong’. Those who decisively call it ‘weak’ have increased by 14 percent in the past 12 months.
