The fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the Iron Curtain: 33 years ago, at the end of 1989, 62 percent of Austrians looked to the future “with confidence”. This demographic value, which has been collected since the 1970s, has never been as high as it was then. Only 16 percent viewed the year 1990 “sceptically” or “with concern” (13 percent).
But after Corona, the outbreak of the Ukraine war and the inflation shock, there is hardly a trace of optimism by the end of 2022, as an IMAS survey of 1,000 respondents shows. Only 26 percent are confident about the new year. More than one in three is skeptical, 35 percent are “worried”.
After six out of ten respondents had expressed confidence at the end of 2019, this optimism indicator halved, falling to 28 percent at the end of the first Corona year 2020 and to 26 percent at the end of the second year. According to the IMAS Institute, which has been conducting this survey since 1972, confidence has never been below 30 percent in three measurements in a row.
While the proportion of optimists is at a low point and that of skeptics is stagnating at a high, the number of those who are “concerned” has fallen by three percentage points compared to the previous year – in favor of those who “did not want to make any judgement”.
Young are optimistic
Young people are particularly positive: 39 percent of 16 to 34-year-olds look ahead with confidence. Only college or university graduates were similarly optimistic, at 34 percent. Those most concerned were those over 60 (47 percent) and compulsory school graduates at 44 percent.
Inflation has replaced the corona pandemic as the number one concern. 42 percent of the skeptics and 52 percent of the worried gave inflation as the reason for their mood. After all, a positive trend can be seen in the data: 36 percent of those surveyed look back “rather positively” on the past year, in 2021 it was only 30 percent.
For 2023, a quarter wishes health for themselves and their families. 16 percent long for peace and an end to inflation. Nine percent want a life like before Corona, only two percent put environmental and climate protection on their wish list.
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