Africans’ ratings of their government’s performance on key economic issues have improved since the COVID-19 years, but they still remain overwhelmingly negative, the latest Afrobarometer Pan-Africa Profile shows.
Although perceptions of economic conditions have shown modest improvement in recent years, they remain more negative than they were a decade ago. About half citizens describe their personal living circumstances as bad.
The new report, based on 50,961 interviews across 38 African countries in 2024/2025, shows that unemployment and the increasing cost of living rank high among the most important problems that citizens want their government to address.
The report also highlights widespread deprivation: Majorities of Africans say they or a family member went without basic necessities such as a cash income, medical care, clean water, food, and cooking fuel at least once during the previous year.