Ukrainians were asked what 2026 will be like. Most pessimists are among men aged 18-35

One in four Ukrainians believes that 2026 will be worse than 2025, with young men being the most pessimistic. This is evidenced by the results of a sociological survey by the Rating Group conducted in November.

Respondents were asked: "Do you think next year will be better, worse or the same as this year?".

As sociologists emphasized, in 2023, half (51%) of Ukrainians believed that the next year would be better, and now 39% share this opinion. Nevertheless, this is still a relatively common view of the situation.

‍The percentage of those who believe that nothing will change is 27% (compared to 20% in 2024).

The share of "pessimists" has also remained virtually unchanged: as in 2024, one in four (28%) respondents now believes that next year will be worse.

Rural residents and people over the age of 51 are more optimistic about the situation. Instead, younger men, especially those aged 18-35, are the most pessimistic.

The survey was conducted on November 11-14 in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied ones, as well as the territories where there was no connection at the time of the survey. Sociologists interviewed 1000 respondents by phone. The statistical error is no more than 3.1%. The research was conducted by the Rating Group as part of the global annual End of Year Survey (EoY) on the future, happiness and expectations of the population of different countries. It is a project of the international sociological association Gallup International .

• As of November, according to a survey by the Razumkov Center, , the most important problem Ukrainian citizens considered the fighting at the front – 68% of respondents expressed this opinion.
• According to a December KIIS poll, a quarter of Ukrainians expect the war to end in the relatively near future.