Ahead Of The Budget, Immigration, Economy And The Nhs Remain Britons' Top Concerns

30th October 2024

Immigration, the economy and the NHS remain the biggest issues facing the country, according to the October 2024 Ipsos Issues Index, with concern about immigration and the economy rising further since last month.

Thirty-eight per cent of Britons name immigration as an important issue this month, an increase of six points since September and the highest recorded level since September 2016.

Concern about the economy has also risen by seven points since September, to 36%. The NHS is third on 33%.

Concern about defence/foreign affairs has doubled since last month, to 15%.

The proportion mentioning immigration as a big issue for the country has risen by six percentage points since last month, with 38% mentioning it as an issue in October, the highest level of concern recorded since September 2016. Concern is strongly split along political lines, with 82% of Reform UK supporters seeing this as a big issue for the country, compared with 46% of Conservatives, 26% of Lib Dems and 24% of Labour Party supporters.

Concern about the economy has also risen strongly, with 36% of Britons seeing it as a big issue for the country. The proportion mentioning the economy has risen by seven percentage points since September.

The NHS also remains a top issue for Britons, with a third (33%) mentioning it as an issue, while inflation remains fourth, mentioned by 19%.

Defence and foreign affairs is the joint-fifth biggest issue for Britons, alongside housing on 15%. Concern about defence and foreign affairs has risen by eight percentage points since last month to the highest level since the start of the year. Fieldwork was conducted between 2 and 8 October 2024, immediately after Iran launched a series of missiles at Israel following its invasion of Lebanon.

Mike Clemence at Ipsos said, "Ahead of the Budget, Rachel Reeves needs to balance Britons' dual concerns over the economy and public services. Both the economy and the NHS are in the top three issues on the public's agenda, and concern over the economy especially has increased this month.
The top issue remains immigration where public concern continues to rise, with almost four-in-ten mentioning this as a big issue for Britain. Levels of concern are now at their highest level for eight years, but views remain very divided, with immigration being a much more important issue to older Britons, Conservative and especially Reform UK supporters.

Technical note:
Ipsos' Issues Index is conducted monthly and provides an overview of the key issues concerning the country. Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,004 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. The answers are spontaneous responses, and participants are not prompted with any answers. Ipsos' telephone omnibus was used for this survey. Interviews were conducted between 2-8 October 2024. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.

For more charts go to https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/ahead-budget-immigration-economy-and-nhs-remain-britons-top-concerns