Opinion Poll: 7 Out of 10 Romanians Believe Romania Goes to Wrong Direction

According to an opinion poll by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy- IRES, seven out of ten Romanians believe that the direction of Romania at the end of 2023 is wrong. Only a little over a quarter, mostly young and educated, think the country’s direction is good.

The data show that Romanians’ optimism is slightly increasing compared to last year. If at the end of 2022, 57% of those interviewed said that that year was worse for Romania than the previous one, in 2023, only 40% of the survey participants believe that this year was worse for the country than the previous one. At the same time, three out of ten respondents said that 2023 was the same as 2022, and 29% even said that this year was better than the previous one.

The professions in which Romanians have the most trust are firefighters (91%, percentage equal to 2022 ), IT specialists (62%, down 15% compared to 2022), medical assistants (68%, down 1% compared to 2022), military officers (66%, percentage equal to 2002 ) or engineers (65%, down 4% compared to 2022) doctors (62%; +3%), economists (56%; +1%), priests (52%; -7%), teachers (52%; -7%) and bank clerks (51%; -4%), lawyers (49%), judges (47%), journalists (44%), and policemen (41%).

Politicians are at the bottom of the trust list. Only one out of ten Romanians declared that he had a lot of trust in them, confirming the trend recorded in the last ten years regarding the reporting of Romanians towards politics and politicians.

Regarding the relationship with the authorities, 8% of the survey participants say that, in 2023, they offered a gift (of any kind) to an official or an employee of a state institution or company, and 4% admit that they offered even money.