With COVID-19, inflation, energy crisis, food crisis, soaring prices, supply chain shocks, the war in Ukraine, and climate crisis, to name a few, it’s hard to see the glass as half-full. When thinking about the future and the current economic situation, the majority of respondents from Germany, Italy, and France in Allianz Research’s newly published Allianz Pulse 2022 survey seem to be united in their pessimism.

Europe’s bumper sticker currently reads if you expect the worst, you’ll never be disappointed. With COVID-19, inflation, energy crisis, food crisis, soaring prices, supply chain shocks, the war in Ukraine, and climate crisis, to name a few, it’s hard to see the glass as half-full. When thinking about the future and the current economic situation, the majority of respondents from Germany, Italy, and France in Allianz Research’s newly published Allianz Pulse 2022 survey* seem to be united in their pessimism. 

Engulfed in crisis

According to the report, in France and Italy the mood has improved only ever so slightly since for every participant who assesses the situation as good, there are almost three who assess it as bad. German participants were the only ones who were somewhat satisfied with the economic conditions in 2019 and 2021, but pessimists now clearly outnumber optimists in Germany as well.  

For the participants in this year’s public opinion survey, the dominant pessimistic streak is not fueled mainly by the horrors of the war in Ukraine. For most respondents, the topic of geopolitics plays a minor role. Whether or not such a view is a result of fatigue is hard to say. For 57 percent of German respondents, however, inflation remains the top issue. The majority of Italians are concerned about jobs (72%), while French respondents are still reeling from the shock of COVID-19 (62%).

Find the rest of the article here: https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/studies/220725_Allianz-Pulse-2022-Europeans-united-in-pessimism.html