The public are split between 36% who say 2025 was a good year for them personally, and the 35% who describe it as an ‘average’ year. Fewer (27%) review the last 12 months as having been bad for themselves.
The youngest age group are much more likely to feel they’ve had a good year than their elders: 56% of 18-24 year olds say so, compared to 31-36% of older age groups.
Those living in middle class households (social grade ABC1) are also more likely to see 2025 as having gone well compared to their counterparts in working class households (C2DE), at 41% versus 29%.
By contrast, a large majority of the public (66%) consider 2025 to have been a bad year for the UK. Only 6% believe it’s been a good year for Britain, with a further 24% saying it’s been ‘average’.
The majority of voters for the four largest 2024 parties all say it has been a bad year for the UK, although Labour and Lib Dem voters are notably less likely to do so (54-55%) than Conservative (77%) and Reform UK voters (83%).
Looking ahead to 2026, the number of people anticipating a good or average year for themselves doesn’t change much – although the number expecting next year to go badly for them does drop significantly to 15%.
Again, it is the young who are most optimistic (59% of 18-24 year olds), with this figure reducing with each age group to 27% of the over-65s.
Likewise, those in middle class households are more likely to anticipate a good year than those in working class homes (44% vs 31%).
Three quarters (74%) of those who say they had a good 2025 expect to have a good 2026, while 54% of those who had an average year think next year will be the same – 22% expect things will be better.
Among those who had a bad 2025, 37% expect next year will also be bad, with 44% expecting a happier year (either average or good).
Most Britons continue to think that 2026 will play out badly for the UK, albeit at a reduced rate of 52%.
One in four (26%) think the year ahead will be average, and one in nine (9%) expect it to be good.
While most Reform (79%) and Tory voters (67%) continue to think 2026 will be a bad year for the UK, this figure falls to 37% of Labour voters and 40% of Lib Dems. Even so, few Labour voters (16%) think 2026 will actively be a good year for the country.
Overall, expectations of the coming year for the UK correlate strongly with how people think this past year has gone. Three quarters of those who say 2025 has been good (73%) or bad (74%) for the country give the same answer for next year, as do 62% of those who think it’s been an average year for the UK.
See the full results at the links below
- Views on 2025, personal
- Views on 2025, for UK
- Expectations for 2026, personal
- Expectations for 2026, for UK
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