Ipsos has released in December the results of their Global Predictions for 2022 research conducted in 33 countries, Romania included. It probes the attitude towards the following topics: Covid-19, Environment, Economy, Society, Technology, Global Threats and Outlook for 2022.

We are going to focus on what Romanians’ attitudes are and find out possible reasons for them.

Covid-19

Only 41% of Romanians consider a likely outcome that more than 80% of the world’s population will receive at least one dose of vaccine. 

• Either a matter of distrust, or an unexpected awareness of global vaccine distribution, Romanians prove pessimistic regarding vaccination progress for 2022.

Environment

What Romanians think:

57% think it is likely there will be more extreme weather events in their country in 2022, with only 27% considering it unlikely. 

• This comes to show that Romanians are starting to worry about climate change and its effects, yet they still are below the global average.

44% consider that it is likely that people will fly less than they did in 2019, while 38% disagree. 

• Romanians seem to be prudent regarding booking flights but it is not clear if they are actually interested in their carbon footprint or have internalised the pandemic travel restrictions.

Economy

What Romanians think:

85% think their income will increase slower than the prices in their country, ranking 5 out of the 33 participating countries. 

• This shows an increased worry about day to day livelihood and could translate into a more conservative approach of buying various products. 

33% consider a likely event that stock markets around the world will crash.

• Romanians are, basically, just as worried as everyone else. Correlated with the increase of prices, it seems like Romanians are more worried about their personal welfare and less about the national or general one, as it may be regarded as more stable.
  

Society

What Romanians think:

68% think it’s likely that city centers in their country will become busy again as people get back to working in offices on a regular basis, while 23% think it’s unlikely.

• Romanians are a bit pessimistic though, as they are below the global average. Yet, it may be because they have adapted to a hybrid working system that avoids these kinds of crowds or just because they can’t imagine for now a life like before Covid.

Only 18% think people in their country will become more tolerant of each other, while 69% think it is unlikely. 

• 10% below the global average, but may also reflect a positive view in the sense that Romanians are aware of the problem as they are on the bottom position among other european countries, better known for their tolerance.

Technology

59% of the Romanians consider it likely that many more people will live their lives in virtual worlds, while 31% think the opposite.

• The high percentage comes to prove that Romanians are mentally prepared for the upcoming digital technologies, such as Metaverse.

Only 27% consider a likely that their government will introduce strict rules for large tech companies in 2022 with 48% thinking the opposite.

• This comes to show that Romanians are aware of possible digital threats, but feel unprotected by the people that should do so.

Global Threats

What Romanians think:

Only 27% consider a likely event that a natural disaster will hit a major city in their country, compared with the 44% thinking the opposite. 

38% consider a likely event hackers from a foreign government causing a global IT shutdown, while 36% think the opposite. 

Only 29% think it is likely that nuclear weapons will be used in a conflict somewhere in the world, while 47% think differently. 

24% think it is likely that a rogue artificial intelligence program that can’t be shut down will cause significant havoc globally, while 54% consider it to be unlikely. 

62% think it is unlikely that An asteroid will hit the Earth, while only 12% of them think it may happen. 

17% think aliens visiting Earth is a likely event of 2022 while for 57% of them it is an unlikely event.

• All these responses come to show that Romanians are pretty rooted in the global community, sharing its various points of view, the regional variation coming from the reduced incidence of events such as cyberattacks or really visible climate change effects.

Outlook for 2022

What Romanians think:

80% are optimistic that 2022 will be a better year for them than it was in 2021, with 3% above the global average.

89% think that 2021 was a bad year for their country, the TOP country on the list, while the global average is of 77%

88% will make some personal resolutions to do some specific things for themselves or others in 2022, way over the average of 75%.

53% think the global economy will be stronger in 2022 than it was in 2021, compared to the global average of 61%.

68% feel that 2021 was a bad year for them and their families, compared to the global average of 58%.

Key Takeaways

The Ipsos report draws the portrait of a Romanian deeply affected by the Pandemic, scoring on the pessimistic side of the spectrum in most of the areas regarding the past, a really prudent one about the economic near future but somehow tries to be moderately optimistic regarding the future. The main issue they have at the moment is anything economic related, understandably for a country in the bottom half of EU wages levels.

You can read the full report and its methodology here: IPSOS