Despite worldwide cases still increasing by 250k a day, new outbreaks appearing all over the world, and dire economic news, optimism is holding out. For the third survey in a row, 87% of respondents reported at least some level of optimism, even if it was only small.

That’s a strong showing, and suggests many of us are holding up well in the face of Covid-19. But it’s also important to break this down to find the nuance in the data.

Here’s how our latest survey data looks when we segment by country.

Germany is showing the most respondents reporting that they’re at least a little optimistic (89%), and Spain the lowest (78%). Australia and Italy aren’t far behind Germany, while France and the UK aren’t much ahead of Spain.

This shows the importance of considering regional differences. This may be a global pandemic, but ultimately every response is local.

There have been some notable changes since we looked at this data a month ago. The UK’s optimism has dropped by five percentage points, while France’s fell by four. Meanwhile Germany’s rose by six, and Italy’s by three. For four well-connected countries relatively close to each other, these are some significant differences in outlook.

Let’s go back to Germany and Spain to see how the optimism gap between these two nations has widened.

Currently there’s an 11 point gap between Germany and Spain when it comes to optimism. In comparison, the average gap between them before the latest survey was just five points.

As we note in every bulletin, there will be a list of reasons why the data looks the way it does but we can hazard some guesses. The widening gap could reflect the recent jump in cases in Spain, and the subsequent travel restrictions other countries have imposed in response. This is likely to cause economic strife, too.

Although daily confirmed cases have been rising in both countries, this data shows that numbers are far higher in Spain. Germany has also seen far fewer Covid-19-related deaths overall than Spain. As of yesterday, 9,201 have died in Germany from Covid-19, compared to Spain’s 28,581. This will obviously factor into optimism.

What’s apparent is that, while we may be getting used to the presence of Covid-19, the floor is constantly shifting. Local outbreaks not only threaten local lockdowns, but the risk of widespread transmission and the return of national quarantine measures, too.

This is going to affect how we view the world and the future for as long as Covid-19 is with us.

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Stay safe,

Brandwatch Response Team