Three and a half years ago when Imran Khan was selected as Prime Minister and proclaimed a Naya Pakistan there were many who believed that in a few years Pakistan would be in a better place than it was today. Unfortunately, not only is Pakistan in a worse position today than it was in 2018 but it appears that the majority of Pakistanis have less hope for the future.
According to Gallup International’s Global Hope, Happiness and Economic Prosperity Index, Pakistan’s net hope declines by 15% in one year. Only 43% Pakistanis express hope about the coming year 2022. This ‘Net hope’ was observed to be poorer than the global average and below that of India.
The key learnings from the survey for Pakistan showed that while net hope in Pakistan has been declining since 2014, Pakistanis appear to be more pessimistic now as compared to previous years as net hope declined by 2% in 2021; this was the lowest since 2013.
The survey also showed the growing political apathy in the country. Nearly half (48%) of Pakistanis said they took no interest at all in the country’s politics. Further, 2 in 5 (40%) Pakistanis stated that to bring change, they should choose political parties who had not been in power yet.
