AROUND six in 10 Filipinos felt 2023 was a bad year for themselves and their families, based on a poll by Paris-based market research and consulting firm Ipsos.

According to the survey, 59% of Filipino respondents agreed with the statement that ‘’2023 was a bad year for me and my family’’ and 66% said it was ‘’a bad year for my country.’’

Meanwhile, 86% expressed optimism that 2024 ‘’will be a better year for me than it was in 2023.’’

Ninety percent vowed to ‘’make some personal resolutions to do some specific things for myself or others in 2024.”

A separate poll by Manila-based Social Weather Stations in December 2023 found that 96% of Filipinos were optimistic about the New Year, which is similar to the pre-pandemic level.

”This is a point above the 95% in 2022 and the highest since the pre-pandemic 96% in 2019,” SWS said in a statement.

Three percent said they would enter the New Year with fear, down 2 points from 5% in 2022.

In the Ipsos survey, 53% of respondents across 34 countries said 2023 was a bad year for them, and 70% said it was a bad year for their country. It is the lowest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seventy percent think 2024 will be a better year than 2023, up five percentage points from 2022.

Ipsos interviewed 25,292 adults aged 18 years and older in India, 18-74 in Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in all other countries.

The Ipsos survey was conducted from October 20 to November 3, 2023.