The 2025 World Governments Summit has unveiled a sobering portrait of a world facing both financial strain and psychological distress.
In a landmark global study released by Gallup and the Summit, researchers found that economic concerns have become the dominant lens through which people view their future, ranking or tying for first as the most pressing national issue in 71 of the 107 countries analysed.
The report, which examines “what followers want from their leaders,” suggests that citizens are increasingly judging governments not by headline GDP growth or macroeconomic indicators, but by the tangible security of their own households.
It notes that “economic concerns pervade global consciousness, but their nature and intensity vary according to national wealth and individual circumstances.”
One of the study’s most striking findings is a profound “perception gap” that challenges traditional political messaging. The data shows that “notably, recent GDP growth is not meaningfully related to the likelihood that people name economic issues as their country’s biggest problem.”
Instead, a person’s subjective sense of household stability shapes their national priorities.
In low-income countries, economic anxiety is often a matter of survival. A median of 38 percent of respondents cite economic issues as their top problem, with 14 percent specifically naming an inability to afford food and shelter — a figure the report describes as “far higher than people in any other national income group.”
In countries such as Malawi, Bolivia and Venezuela, more than half of the adult population identifies economic failure as the nation’s primary challenge.
Yet the crisis is not confined to developing nations. The study highlights a widening generational divide in some of the world’s wealthiest societies.
Young adults aged 15 to 34 are now more likely than any other age group to view the economy as their country’s most pressing concern.
The disparity is most pronounced in high-income countries including New Zealand, Canada and the United States, where young people are up to 24 percentage points more likely than the oldest residents to prioritise economic issues.
“These disparities highlight how younger people in many high-income countries may feel the economy is failing them, despite living in relatively prosperous societies,” the report states.
The research also underscores a persistent gender gap. Women are more likely than men — 35 percent compared to 31 percent — to cite economic pressures as their primary concern.
The disparity “widens dramatically in poorer countries where women face sharper economic insecurity,” the study finds.
Ultimately, the findings amount to a call for a recalibration of leadership. The report argues that citizens assess national progress based on whether they feel “secure and able to live well,” rather than on abstract economic statistics.
By linking Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index to the economic data, researchers found that 36 percent of those classified as “suffering” identify the economy as their top concern.
The 2025 study concludes that people are not merely seeking technocratic fixes. They are looking for leaders who can provide hope, trust and compassion.
In an era defined by “Economic Pressures,” it argues, the most effective leaders will be those who close the gap between national performance and personal wellbeing — recognising that economic growth alone is hollow if individuals do not feel they are thriving within it.
