Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: September 2025

The following information is from data collected between 3 and 28 September 2025, based on adults in Great Britain.

We asked people what they thought were the important issues facing the UK today.

• The cost of living (88%), the NHS (80%), the economy (69%), immigration (64%), crime (57%) and housing (54%) were the most commonly reported issues.

We examined what different groups of the population thought were important issues, using data from the period 2 July to 28 September 2025.

• The cost of living, the NHS and the economy continue to be the most commonly reported issues by adults; immigration has also become more frequently reported recently.

• The cost of living was more likely to be reported as an important issue by renters (91%), parents of a dependent child (91%), those aged 16 to 29 (89%) and 30 to 49 years (90%), and women (89%).

• The NHS was more frequently reported as an important issue by women (86%) and older adults (86% among those aged 70 years and over).

• The economy was more frequently reported as an important issue by adults with a degree (73%) and those who reported being employed or self-employed (70%), or retired (73%).

• Older age groups (82% for those aged 70 years and over), retired adults (82%), adults without a qualification (76%), and adults who own their home outright (74%) were most likely to report immigration as an important issue.

We have asked respondents what they thought were the important issues facing the UK today, since October 2022. This helps us understand how public opinion has changed over time and where more in-depth analysis can offer insights on specific topics and groups of the population.

The cost of living (88%), the NHS (80%), and the economy (69%) continue to be the most frequently reported important issues in the latest period (3 to 28 September 2025).

The proportion of adults reporting the cost of living or the economy as an important issue has decreased since October 2022, when these proportions were 93% and 79%, respectively. The number of respondents reporting the NHS as an important issue has remained relatively stable over the same period.

Other commonly reported issues during this time include immigration (64%), crime (57%), and housing (54%). The proportion of adults reporting immigration has increased since October 2022, when it was 43%, and is now the fourth most-reported issue.

Figure 1: The cost of living, the NHS and the economy have been the most-commonly reported important issues facing the UK since October 2022

Proportion of adults reporting each important issue, Great Britain, October 2022 to September 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option.
2. The length of each data collection period presented in this time series may be different.

In the latest pooled period, covering 2 July to 28 September 2025, we explored what different groups of the population thought were the important issues facing the UK.

Figure 2 shows the proportion of adults who selected each important issue by age.

Younger age groups were more likely to report the cost of living and housing as an important issue than adults aged 50 years and over. Older adults (aged 50 to 69 years and 70 years and over) were more likely than younger age groups to report the NHS, immigration and crime as important issues (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Younger adults (aged under 50 years) were more likely than older adults (aged 50 years and over) to report the cost of living and housing as important issues facing the UK today

Proportion of adults reporting each important issue by age, Great Britain, 2 July to 28 September 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option.

The cost of living

The cost of living continues to be one of the most commonly reported issues among adults in Great Britain. The latest pooled period shows which groups were more likely to report this, including:

• younger adults (89% among those aged 16 to 29 years, and 90% among those aged 30 to 49 years, compared with 79% among those aged 70 years and over)
• women (89%) compared with men (85%)
• those living in deprived areas of England (89% among those living in the second most deprived fifth of areas, compared with 84% among those living in the least deprived fifth of areas, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation)
• renters (91%), compared with those who owned their property outright (82%)
• parents of a dependent child (91%), compared with those who did not have a dependent child (86%)

The NHS

The NHS continues to be one of the most commonly reported issues, alongside the cost of living. In the latest pooled period, this was more likely to be reported among:

• older adults (86% among those aged 70 years and over, compared with 74% among those aged 16 to 29 years)
• women (86%), compared with men (76%)

The economy

The economy has continued to be one of the most commonly reported issues. This was more likely to be reported by:

• adults aged over 70 years (74%) when compared with adults aged 16 to 29 years (61%)
• adults with a degree (73%) compared with adults with no qualification (68%)
• those who were employed (70%), self-employed (70%), or retired (73%), compared with those who were economically inactive but not retired (59%), and those who were unemployed (60%)

Immigration

Immigration has become more frequently reported in recent months. This was most likely to be reported by:

• older age groups (82% of those aged 70 years and over and 76% of those aged 50 to 69 years; compared with 55% of those aged 30 to 49 years and 45% for those aged 16 to 29 years)
• retired adults (82%)
• adults who own their home outright (74%), compared with renters (60%)
• adults without a qualification (76%), compared with those with a degree level qualification (50%)

Other important issues

Some important issues that were less frequently reported across all adults in Great Britain were particularly important to some groups of the population.

Crime was more frequently reported as an important issue by:

• older adults, aged 70 years and over (69%), and 50 to 69 years (67%), compared with those aged 16 to 29 years (47%)
• those living in the North East of England (63%), compared with those living in London (57%)
• those with no qualifications (66%), compared with those with a degree or equivalent (50%)
• adults who are not a parent of a dependent child (60%), compared with those who are parents of a dependent child (51%)

While older adults were more likely to report crime as an important issue, data from our Crime in England and Wales, victim characteristics: year ending March 2023 article show that younger people were more likely to be the victim of headline crime (theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, or violence with or without injury).

Housing was more frequently reported as an important issue by:

• young adults aged 16 to 29 years (63%), compared with those aged 70 years and over (47%)
• those living in London (62%), compared with those living in the East Midlands (48%) and in the West Midlands (49%)
• single-adult households with at least one dependent child (66%), compared with households with more than one adult and at least one dependent child (50%)

In this release, "single adult households with at least one dependent child" refers to a specific household composition and differs from the definition of "parental status", which can include households with any number of children. More information on parental status can be found in Section 5:Glossary.

Climate change and the environment was more frequently reported as an important issue by:

• women (57%), compared with men (50%)
• those with a degree or equivalent (63%) compared with those below degree level (50%)
• those living in the least deprived fifth of areas in England (61%), compared with those living in the most deprived fifth of areas (42%)
• those living in the South West of England (61%) compared with those living in the West Midlands (48%).

Estimates of the proportion of adults reporting each important issue among all the different groups of the population considered in this analysis are available in our accompanying Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: personal well-being and loneliness by personal characteristics dataset.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) collects data on a wide range of topics. Our accompanying datasets provide estimates of the experiences people in Great Britain have of household finances, their personal well-being and loneliness, and their working arrangements.

Parental status

In the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), an adult is defined as a parent if they are the parent of a dependent child living in the household. In this case, dependent children include children and stepchildren.

A dependent child is someone aged under 16 years, or someone who is aged 16 to 18 years, has never been married, and is in full-time education.

Statistical significance

This bulletin presents the OPN data as a summary of results. Further data, including confidence intervals for the estimates shown in the charts presented, are contained in our associated datasets. Where comparisons between groups are presented, 95% confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the change. For more information on these terms, see our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys methodology.

Other definitions

Definitions of all breakdowns of estimates used in this bulletin are available in more detail in the Notes tab of our accompanying Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: important issues facing the UK dataset.

The analysis in this bulletin is based on adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

In the latest period, 3 to 28 September 2025, we sampled 7,870 households. This sample was randomly selected from people who had previously completed the Labour Market Survey (LMS) or Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). The responding sample for the latest period contained 3,320 individuals, representing a 43% response rate.

The latest pooled period, covering 2 July to 28 September 2025, contained 10,540 individuals.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population, based on our population estimates. Estimates for some groups of the population may be subject to greater uncertainty because of smaller sample sizes for these groups (for example, younger adults).

From the 2 to 27 July 2025 data collection period onwards, the population totals used in weighting OPN estimates are based on 2022 mid-year estimates using updated population projections. For England and Wales, they are projected forward using scaling factors from 2021-based national population projections. For Scotland, they are projected forward using scaling factors from 2020-based national population projections.

For all estimates in the datasets, confidence intervals are provided. Where comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences. In some cases, additional statistical hypothesis testing was performed to identify differences between groups.

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey quality and methodology information (QMI).