Ipsos Populism Report 2025: 59% Give Thumbs Up To Strong Leader Willing To Break Rules
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Citizens believe that when the jobs in the country are scarce employers should prioritize hiring locals over immigrants
The sixth edition of the Ipsos Populism Report, a 31-country survey which tracks how people around the world feel about issues leading to the rise of populism, shows that India has made remarkable strides in some of the key aspects of populism in sync with the expectations of the citizens.
The Ipsos report shows 59% Indians agreeing in 2025, as opposed to 73% in 2023 and 65% in 2016 – displaying positive strides and improvement in the broken index and how we are doing as a country. The index comprises five statements – the country's economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful, traditional parties and politicians do not care about people like me, to fix we need a strong leader to break the rules, country needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful and experts in the country do not understand the lives of people like me.
Interestingly, in 2025, 59% Indians agree that the country needs a strong leader willing to break the rules which is a 14% decline from 2023, showing the leader has fulfilled on these attributes leading to the expectations declining. Likewise for the statement that the country needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and the powerful, India has 60% agreeing in 2025 showing a decline of 11% from 2023, indicating improvement and the expectation reducing. Similarly, for many areas – like, experts in the country do not understand the lives of people like me, showed a 14% decline from 2023 to 2025 with 59% agreeing.
'India has shown improvement in some of the key areas of populism, with expectations emerging less glaring as opposed to some of the previous years, when more number of citizens emphasized on the system being broken, and there being lack of meritocracy and level playing field and system was meant to favor the rich and powerful and the citizens being vehement in their demand of the country needing a strong leader at the helm. The incumbent leader has shown strong leadership traits, decision making and tough talking, with the expectation now receding on some of these key aspects, indicating improvement in areas which were strongly expressed by the citizens," said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.
One metric where India has shown stark result is in the case of whether the country today is in decline. 1 in 2 Indians (53%) tend to agree showing a +31% increase from 2016. Probably it is to do with people's disappointment with the society and the erosion of the value system.
A strong case for National Identity
The survey shows a strong support for different elements of national identity. At least 73% Indians believe that defending the country when it is criticized is extremely important as citizens. Getting ahead on one's own efforts is endorsed by at least 7 in 10 (73%) respondents. Citizens also strong believe that the right to vote (75%), to be able to speak (71%), to be born in your own country (72%), being part of a religious majority (69%) and treating people of all backgrounds equally (73%) are all important elements of the national identity.
Where should government prioritise spends?
Citizens believe that the government should increase its spending in the key areas of creating jobs (73%); education (72%) – schools, universities and job training; public safety (72%) – law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services; defence and national security (72%) – military; healthcare (71%) – disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research; infrastructure (70%) – comprising roads and bridges, rail and air networks, water, electricity and broadband; and reducing poverty and social inequality (64%).
Immigrants & elites – both viewed in poor light
Further, citizens believe that when the jobs in the country are scarce employers should prioritize hiring locals over immigrants. 62% citizens hold this view in 2025, with the public angst receding by -15% from 2023. With government policies becoming more stern discouraging influx of immigrants, public outcry has reduced on immigrants taking away jobs from real people – 60% citizens agree in 2025, showing a -15% reduction from 2023.
Elites are perceived to be a closely connected group of people with similar interests and views on many important issues by 52% of the Indian citizens polled. While 48% Indians perceive elites to be a loose group of people with different interests and views on many important issues. Also 44% Indians believe that elites sincerely think of their decisions being in the larger interest of the people but that would not be the case. 1 in 5 Indians (21%) also feel that the elites take decisions to suit their own interests and people in the country do not matter to them.
The survey
Ipsos interviewed 23,228 people online between Friday, February 21, and Friday, March 7, 2025 in 31 countries. Quotas were set to ensure representativeness and data have been weighted to the known population profile of each country. The sample consists of approximately 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and Türkiye. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online.
Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing over 20,000 people. Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques. Our tagline 'Game Changers" sums up our ambition to help our 5,000 customers move confidently through a rapidly changing world. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has been listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1, 1999.
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
June 16, 2025, 18:01 IST
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