PERILS OF PERCEPTION 2015

A 33 COUNTRY STUDY

These are the latest findings from the

Ipsos Perils of Perception survey. The
results highlight how wrong people
across 33 countries are about some
key issues and features of the
population in their country.

Perceptions are not reality

WHAT PROPORTION OF
TOTAL HOUSEHOLD WEALTH
DO YOU THINK THE
WEALTHIEST 1% OWN?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

% point difference

Q. What proportion of the

total household wealth do
you think the wealthiest
1% own?

People generally
overestimate the total
household wealth
that the wealthiest
1% in their country
own. This is
particularly true for
developed countries.

Ipsos Public Affairs

Great Britain
France
Australia
Belgium
New Zealand
Canada
Germany
Spain
Italy
Japan
Norway
United States
China
Netherlands
South Korea
Sweden
Ireland
Chile
Colombia
South Africa
Poland
Argentina
Mexico
Turkey
Israel
Brazil
India
Peru
Russia

too low | too high

+36
+33
+33
+32
+32
+30
+29
+29
+23
+22
+20
+20
+17
+16
+15
+14
+13
+11
+9
+6
+4
+2
0
-1
-7
-8
-13
-15
-17

Avg. guess
59
56
54
50
50
55
59
56
46
41
45
57
56
40
49
46
40
54
43
49
38
46
36
53
32
40
40
32
53

Actual
23
23
21
18
18
25
30
27
23
19
25
37
39
24
34
32
27
43
34
43
34
44
36
54
39
48
53
47
70

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

WHAT PROPORTION OF
TOTAL HOUSEHOLD WEALTH
DO YOU THINK THE
WEALTHIEST 1%
SHOULD OWN?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

% point difference

Q. What proportion of the

total household wealth do
you think the wealthiest
1% should own?

People tend to think

the wealthiest 1%
should own a lower
proportion of their
countrys total
household wealth
than they
currently do.

Ipsos Public Affairs

New Zealand
Japan
France
Australia
Italy
Canada
Belgium
Great Britain
Ireland
Mexico
China
Colombia
Netherlands
Norway
Spain
United States
Germany
South Africa
Sweden
Brazil
South Korea
Poland
Peru
Argentina
Chile
India
Israel
Turkey
Russia

too low | too high

+9
+6
+4
+3
+3
+1

-2
-3
-4
-6
-7
-7
-8
-10
-10
-10
-12
-13
-13
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-21
-23
-25
-33
-47

Should
27
25
27
24
26
26
16
20
23
30
32
27
16
15
17
27
18
30
19
33
18
17
29
25
22
30
14
21
23

Actual
18
19
23
21
23
25
18
23
27
36
39
34
24
25
27
37
30
43
32
48
34
34
47
44
43
53
39
54
70

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

OUT OF EVERY 100 PEOPLE

AGED 20 YEARS OR OVER

HOW MANY DO YOU THINK

ARE EITHER OVERWEIGHT
OR OBESE?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

% point difference

Q. Out of every 100 people

aged 20 years or over],
how many do you think are
either overweight or
obese?

The public generally

underestimate the
proportion of
overweight or
obese people in
their country.

Ipsos Public Affairs

India
Japan
China
South Korea
South Africa
Netherlands
Brazil
Serbia
Australia
Hungary
Argentina
Canada
Chile
Italy
Ireland
Peru
Mexico
United States
Belgium
France
Germany
Poland
Great Britain
Sweden
New Zealand
Colombia
Spain
Norway
Montenegro
Russia
Israel
Turkey
Saudi Arabia

too low | too high

-43

-8
-9
-9
-11
-11
-11
-12
-13
-13
-14
-14
-15
-16
-16
-17
-17
-17
-17
-18
-19
-19
-20
-20
-20
-24
-26
-33
-33

+9
+6

+21

Avg. guess
41
32
34
32
47
40
47
42
51
49
40
43
53
36
44
41
53
50
36
32
40
40
44
33
47
35
38
33
35
31
24
32
28

Actual
20
23
28
32
55
49
56
53
62
60
52
56
66
50
58
56
69
66
53
49
57
57
62
52
66
55
58
53
59
57
57
65
71

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

OUT OF EVERY 100 PEOPLE

ABOUT HOW MANY DO YOU THINK
DO NOT AFFILIATE THEMSELVES WITH
ANY RELIGION?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

% point difference

Q. Out of every 100

people, about how many
do you think do not
affiliate themselves with
any religion that is,
atheists, agnostics and
those who say they do not
identify with any religion?

Across the world,

people tend to overestimate the level of
non-religious people
in their country.

Ipsos Public Affairs

India
Mexico
Russia
Norway
Serbia
Ireland
Brazil
Peru
Spain
United States
Argentina
Italy
Montenegro
Colombia
South Africa
Australia
Hungary
Poland
Great Britain
Chile
France
Canada
Sweden
Turkey
Germany
Israel
New Zealand
Saudi Arabia
Belgium
Netherlands
China
Japan
South Korea

too low | too high

-4
-4

+33
+30
+29
+28
+28
+28
+27
+25
+25
+24
+23
+23
+22
+21
+21
+21
+20
+20
+20
+19
+18
+17
+17
+14
+13
+13
+12
+11
+8
+8
+5

Avg. guess
33
35
45
38
31
34
35
28
44
40
35
35
25
28
36
45
39
26
45
35
46
41
44
15
38
16
49
12
37
50
57
53
42

Actual
0.1
5
16
10
3
6
8
3
19
16
12
12
3
7
15
24
19
6
25
16
28
24
27
1
25
3
37
1
29
42
52
57
46

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

10

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF
THE POPULATION DO YOU THINK
ARE IMMIGRANTS (I.E. NOT
BORN IN THIS COUNTRY?)

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

11

% point difference

Q. What percentage of the

population do you think
are immigrants (i.e. not
born in this country)?

People generally
overestimate the level
of immigration in
their country. This is
particularly true in
Latin America.

Ipsos Public Affairs

Argentina
Brazil
South Africa
Mexico
Peru
India
Russia
United States
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Italy
Serbia
France
Germany
Belgium
Netherlands
Great Britain
New Zealand
China
Australia
Hungary
Sweden
South Korea
Spain
Japan
Montenegro
Poland
Ireland
Norway
Israel
Saudi Arabia

too low | too high

-7

-3

+2

+25
+25
+24
+21
+21
+21
+19
+19
+18
+17
+17
+17
+16
+14
+14
+14
+13
+12
+12
+11
+10
+10
+9
+8
+8
+8
+8
+7
+7

Avg. guess
30
25
29
22
21
21
27
33
39
19
17
26
22
26
26
24
25
25
37
11
38
15
25
11
22
10
16
9
23
16
24
24

Actual
5
0.3
5
1
0.3
0.4
8
14
21
2
0.3
9
6
12
12
10
12
13
25
0.1
28
5
16
3
14
2
8
2
16
14
27
31

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

12

OUT OF EVERY 100

YOUNG ADULTS AGED 25-34
ABOUT HOW MANY DO YOU THINK
LIVE WITH THEIR PARENTS?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

13

% point difference

Avg. guess

| too high

Great Britain

+29

All countries surveyed

over-estimate the
proportion of 25-34
year-olds living with
their parents in their
country.

14

+25

65

40

France

+25

36

11

34

12

+22

Ireland

+20

39

19

Sweden

+20

24

34

17

Belgium

+17

Norway

+15

19

Serbia

+14

68

54

61

49

27

17

18

11

46

44

49

48

+12

Italy

+10

Germany

+7

Netherlands
Poland
Hungary

Ipsos Public Affairs

43

Spain

United States

Q. Out of every 100 young

adults aged 25-34, about
how many do you think
live with their parents?

Actual

+2
+1

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

14

HOW OLD DO YOU THINK

THE AVERAGE PERSON IN YOUR

COUNTRY IS?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

15

% point difference

Q. How old do you think

the average person in your
country is?

In every country
across the study,
people overestimate the
average age within
their country.

Ipsos Public Affairs

Brazil
Turkey
India
Hungary
China
Japan
Norway
Mexico
Montenegro
South Africa
Sweden
Poland
Italy
Ireland
Peru
Belgium
Serbia
Argentina
South Korea
Colombia
Israel
Chile
Netherlands
Great Britain
Australia
United States
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Russia
Canada
New Zealand
France
Germany

too high
+25
+24
+22
+22
+19
+18
+17
+16
+16
+16
+16
+15
+14
+14
+14
+14
+14
+13
+12
+12
+11
+11
+11
+11
+10
+9
+9
+9
+9
+8
+7
+6
+4

Avg. guess
56
54
49
63
56
65
56
44
56
43
57
55
59
50
41
55
56
44
53
41
41
45
53
51
48
47
36
51
48
50
45
47
51

Actual
31
30
27
41
37
47
39
28
40
27
41
40
45
36
27
41
42
31
41
29
30
34
42
40
38
38
27
42
39
42
38
41
47

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

16

OUT OF EVERY 100 PEOPLE

ABOUT HOW MANY DO YOU THINK
ARE AGED 14 OR YOUNGER?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

17

% point difference

Q. Out of every 100

people, about how many
do you think are aged 14
or under?

In almost every
country in the study
people overestimate the
proportion of people
aged 14 or under in
their country.

Ipsos Public Affairs

Brazil
Mexico
Peru
South Africa
Hungary
Argentina
New Zealand
Colombia
Russia
Italy
Poland
Ireland
Chile
Germany
India
Canada
Great Britain
United States
Australia
Serbia
France
Spain
Montenegro
China
Netherlands
Turkey
Sweden
South Korea
Japan
Norway
Saudi Arabia
Israel

too low | too high

-5

+15
+15
+14
+14
+13
+13
+13
+13
+13
+12
+11
+11
+11
+11
+11
+10
+10
+10
+9
+9
+8
+8
+6
+6
+5
+5
+4
+4
+4
+4
+3

Avg. guess
39
43
41
42
28
38
33
38
29
26
26
33
32
24
39
26
27
29
27
24
27
23
25
23
22
31
21
18
17
22
30
23

Actual
24
28
27
28
15
25
20
25
16
14
15
22
21
13
28
16
17
19
18
15
19
15
19
17
17
26
17
14
13
18
27
28

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

18

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF
POLITICIANS ARE WOMEN?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

19

% point difference

Q. What percentage of
politicians do you think are
women?

There is a real mix of

accuracy on the
proportion of female
politicians: a number
of countries are
very accurate, but
others over- and
underestimate
significantly.

Ipsos Public Affairs

Russia
Colombia
India
Brazil
Chile
Hungary
Japan
Peru
France
United States
Ireland
Norway
Poland
South Korea
China
Turkey
Canada
Montenegro
Italy
Israel
Sweden
Great Britain
New Zealand
South Africa
Netherlands
Germany
Australia
Argentina
Belgium
Spain
Serbia
Mexico

Avg. guess

too low | too high

+17
+17
+11
+8
+6
+2
+2
+2
+2
+2
+1
-2
-2
-2
-3
-3
-3
-3
-5
-6
-6
-6
-7
-8
-9
-9
-10
-10
-12
-12
-14
-16

31
37
23
18
22
12
12
24
28
21
17
38
22
14
21
15
22
14
26
19
38
23
24
34
28
27
17
26
27
29
20
26

Actual
14
20
12
10
16
10
10
22
26
19
16
40
24
16
24
18
25
17
31
25
44
29
31
42
37
36
27
36
39
41
34
42

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

20

OUT OF EVERY 100 WORKING-AGE

WOMEN, ABOUT HOW MANY
DO YOU THINK ARE
IN EMPLOYMENT?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

21

% point difference

Q. Out of every 100

working age women, about
how many do you think are
in employment?

Globally, people are

generally pretty
accurate when
estimating the
proportion of working
age women in
employment in their
country.

Ipsos Public Affairs

India
South Africa
Mexico
Chile
France
Turkey
Hungary
Argentina
Russia
China
Belgium
United States
Norway
Serbia
Colombia
Poland
Brazil
Italy
Sweden
Canada
Ireland
Peru
Montenegro
Japan
Great Britain
Spain
Netherlands
Australia
New Zealand
Germany
South Korea
Israel

too low | too high

-29

-2
-2
-3
-4
-4
-4
-5
-6
-6
-7
-8
-8
-9
-9
-11
-12
-13
-13

+16
+12
+11
+10
+5
+4
+3
+3
+2
+1
0
0
0

Avg. guess
41
49
56
55
66
34
59
53
67
63
58
63
73
37
53
52
52
44
69
64
50
54
41
56
60
43
59
55
57
57
42
39

Actual
25
37
45
45
61
30
56
50
65
62
58
63
73
39
55
55
56
48
73
69
56
60
48
64
68
52
68
66
69
70
55
68

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

22

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE

IN YOUR COUNTRY
LIVE IN A RURAL AREA?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

23

% point difference

Q. What percentage of
people in your country live
in a rural area?

People generally
overestimate the
proportion of people
who live in rural areas
in their country.

Ipsos Public Affairs

Japan
Belgium
Turkey
Mexico
Peru
Argentina
Chile
France
Netherlands
New Zealand
Brazil
Sweden
South Africa
Norway
United States
Canada
Australia
Colombia
Hungary
Israel
Germany
Italy
South Korea
Great Britain
Spain
Saudi Arabia
China
Ireland
Russia
Poland
Montenegro
Serbia
India

too low | too high

+49
+36
+29
+28
+25
+24
+23
+22
+22
+21
+19
+19
+17
+16
+16
+16
+15
+15
+15
+14
+13
+13
+12
+12
+11
+9
+6
+5
+4
-2
-6
-10
-13

Avg. guess
56
38
37
49
47
32
34
43
32
35
34
33
53
36
35
34
26
39
44
23
38
44
30
30
32
26
52
42
30
37
30
35
55

Actual
7
2
8
21
22
8
11
21
10
14
15
14
36
20
19
18
11
24
29
9
25
31
18
18
21
17
46
37
26
39
36
45
68

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

24

OUT OF EVERY 100 PEOPLE

ABOUT HOW MANY DO YOU THINK
HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AT HOME
EITHER THROUGH A COMPUTER OR
MOBILE DEVICE?

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

25

% point difference

Q. Out of every 100

people, about how many
do you think have access
to the internet at home
either through a computer
or mobile device?

People in developing
countries tend to
overestimate the
proportion of people
who have internet
access while in more
developed countries
the opposite is true.

Ipsos Public Affairs

India
Peru
China
Turkey
South Africa
Mexico
Brazil
Colombia
Serbia
Italy
Argentina
Chile
Montenegro
Poland
Russia
Spain
Saudi Arabia
Germany
Sweden
Hungary
Ireland
France
Norway
Belgium
Australia
Great Britain
South Korea
Netherlands
United States
New Zealand
Canada
Japan
Israel

too low | too high

-3
-4
-4
-5
-6
-6
-7
-8
-9
-9
-10
-11
-12
-12
-12
-16

+41
+28
+26
+21
+21
+20
+19
+18
+16
+15
+13
+11
+10
+9
+3
+2
+1

Avg. guess
60
69
72
68
55
64
72
70
72
75
73
77
74
76
73
76
60
84
85
70
77
80
90
78
82
81
83
86
76
80
81
74
60

Actual
19
41
46
47
34
44
53
52
56
60
60
66
64
67
70
74
59
87
89
74
82
86
96
85
90
90
92
96
87
92
93
86
76

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

26

Looking across all questions,

we have calculated a
measure of how accurate the
population of each country
is.
This gives us our

Index of Ignorance
Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

27

(least accurate at top)

Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

Country
Mexico
India
Brazil
Peru
New Zealand
Colombia
Belgium
South Africa
Argentina
Italy
Russia
Chile
Great Britain
Israel
Australia
Japan
Canada
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
Norway
France
Sweden
United States
China
Poland
Ireland
South Korea

PERILS OF PERCEPTION 2015 INDEX OF IGNORANCE

24th
USA
17th
Canada

6th
Colombia

7th
Belgium
27th
Ireland

21st
Norway

18th
Germany

14th
Israel
23rd
Sweden

28th
South Korea
25th
China

11th
Russia

19th
Netherlands

4th
Peru
1st
Mexico

Ipsos Public Affairs

20th
Spain

9th
Argentina
12th
Chile

26th
Poland

13th
GB
3rd
Brazil

8th
South Africa
22nd
France

2nd
India
10th
Italy

16th
Japan
15th
Australia

5th
New Zealand

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

28

 These are the findings of the Ipsos Perils of Perception Survey. 25,556 interviews were
conducted between October 1st October 16th 2015.
The survey was conducted in 33 countries around the world. The following countries
used the Ipsos Online Panel system: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,
South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain, Turkey and the United States of America. In
Ireland a telephone (CATI) methodology was used. In Serbia and Montenegro a
face-to-face (CAPI) methodology was used.

Approximately 1000+ individuals were surveyed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,

France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Serbia, Spain, Great Britain Montenegro, the
Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and the United States of America. Approximately 500+
individuals were surveyed in the remaining countries.
Where results do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple
responses or the exclusion of don't knows or not stated responses.
Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
For a full list of sources of actual data, please see here

Ipsos Public Affairs

PERILS OF PERCEPTION |

29

PERILS OF PERCEPTION 2015

For more information, please contact:

Bobby Duffy
Bobby.Duffy@ipsos.com
@BobbyIpsosMORI

James Stannard
James.Stannard@ipsos.com

30