PARIS — The Saudis have been adjudged as the world's most trusted people in the economic trends of their country, according to a survey conducted by the third largest market research company in the world, Ipsos, between March 25 and April 3 of 2022. According to the survey, the Kingdom recorded the highest levels of confidence and trust in its economic trends, as it outperformed many major industrialized countries such as — the US, India, Germany, Japan, Great Britain and France. Saudi Arabia topped the countries included in the Ipsos Index, which focuses on many important social and political issues in 27 countries around the world. The Kingdom obtained a score of 91% of those who believe that it is heading in the right direction, with an advantage of more than 57 points over the global average of 35%. While the Saudis had the highest confidence in their country and their belief that it is going in the right direction by 91%, the major industrial countries of Germany, Japan, the US, Britain and France came in the lower half of the index under 50%. The confidence of Saudi citizens in government procedures and systems was clearly reflected in the comparison between the 27 countries in the Ipsos index in the five most important topics: inflation, poverty and social inequality, unemployment and jobs, crimes and violence, threats against economy and corruption. Regarding inflation, Saudis expressed the least concern at only 10%, while the general global concern about this crisis was 32%. As for unemployment, the Saudis also expressed the lowest level of concern among all the countries included in the Ipsos Index, at only 15%, 16 points different from the global average, which is estimated at 31%. The results of Ipsos are a confirmation of the confidence of the Saudis in the Vision 2030 project, which has completed its sixth year since its launch, and the many structural reforms it has carried out, such as the structure of the Saudi economy, the labor market and investment systems, and the creation and enactment of supporting legislation. All structural reforms were supported by a strong war against corruption, which led to the further diversification of the Kingdom's sources of income, the development of its investment opportunities, and the creation of job opportunities for citizens, both men and women. The structural reforms have also reflected in enhancing the quality of life for Saudi citizens, residents and visitors. It is noteworthy that the results of the Saudi people's confidence in the Kingdom's economic policies are an extension of previous results that it achieved during the past two years in a row. During the past year 2021, Saudi Arabia ranked first in the Edelman Trust Barometer, which covers 28 countries around the world, where the levels of confidence in the performance of the Kingdom's government increased from 78% in January 2020 to 82% in January 2021. Through the fact that Saudi Arabia topped the Edelman Trust Barometer, the Kingdom added 4 percentage points to its balance, which qualified it to be at the forefront of the countries included in the index as the highest government in the world trusts in its performance.
