The bar chart presents the results of a European survey on young people’s expectations for changes in five areas of life over the next 20 years, showing percentages who believe each area will improve or get worse.
Overall, communication between people is the only area where a majority (54%) anticipate improvement, while the remaining four areas are predominantly expected to deteriorate. Notably, air quality in cities attracts the greatest pessimism, with only 23% forecasting better conditions.
In terms of the most negative outlook, just 23% of respondents predict improved air quality, whereas around 77% expect it to worsen. Water quality follows a similar pattern, with 60% anticipating decline compared to 40% who foresee improvement.
The expectations for health and food quality are somewhat closer, though still tilted towards deterioration: 58% believe health will get worse (versus 42% improvement), while food quality is almost evenly split, with 51% predicting it will decline and 49% expecting enhancement.
By contrast, over half (54%) of young Europeans are optimistic about interpersonal communication improving in the coming decades.