These Countries Are the Most Optimistic About the Global Economy The United States is not at the top of the list.
By Nina Zipkin •
It's been nearly a decade since the Great Recession, and Pew Research Center has taken a look at which countries around the world feel the most positively about their national economies and the global economy at large.
Citizens in 32 countries were polled in all. Pew found that 11 out 18 nations polled in both 2016 and 2017 feel more positively about their country's economic outlook today than they did last year. The study also found that 46 percent of people in the 32 countries polled believe that their country's economy is currently doing well.
Only 34 percent of people in advanced economies think that children growing up in their country now will be better off financially than their parents, while 56 percent of those in emerging and developing nations say the same.
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The countries whose citizens have the most negative forecasts for the younger generation's financial future are France, Japan and Greece. But across the board, people ages 18 to 29 are more optimistic about the financial future of the next generation than citizens who are 50 and above.
The countries that are the most positive about their economic climate overall are the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and India.
India is number one for developing nations, at 83 percent reporting that the economic situation in the country is good, followed by the Philippines at 78 percent and Senegal at 76 percent. For advanced nations, in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, 87 percent, 86 percent and 84 percent said the same respectively. Poland (at 64 percent) and Israel (at 62 percent) round out the top five.
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The United States, however, is firmly in the middle of the pack. Fifty-eight percent of Americans surveyed said they believe the country's economy is in good shape, compared to 50 percent who said the same before the financial downturn in 2007. Thirty-seven percent think that children today will be better off than their parents.
On the whole, Pew found that citizens were more likely to think that their economy is faring well if they agreed with the government in power. In the United States, 45 percent of Republicans believe today's children will be better off financially. Thirty-three percent of Democrats and 36 percent of independents say the same.
