Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds – Country and Society (6-Country Survey)

The 78th installment of the Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds was carried out during February 2026, asking young people aged 17 to 19 in six countries – Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, and India – about their views on their countries’ present circumstances and future outlook, and their relationship with society.

 

When asked what they considered the (three) major issues facing their own country, respondents in both Japan and South Korea, two countries with among the world’s highest rates of declining birthrate and aging population, the No. 1 and No. 2 replies, respectively, were “Declining birthrate” and “Aging population,” which were the same as in the previous (62nd) six-country survey, carried out in February 2024. Among Japanese respondents, those citing “increase in immigrants,” which ranked 12th in the previous survey, increased by a factor of three, to roughly 20%, and jumped to No. 4 overall.

 

With regard to their own country’s future, although more than half of Indian and Chinese respondents replied that it “Will get better,” there were higher percentages of respondents in the remaining four countries who replied that it “Will get worse.” Furthermore, in addition to India and China, the percentage of respondents in South Korea who replied “Will get better” declined, and among Chinese respondents in particular, the decline was roughly 30 percentage points. At 16%, the figure for Japan increased slightly from the previous survey, but was still the lowest among the six countries. In the 20th survey, carried out in nine countries in 2019, the percentage of Japanese respondents replying “Will get better” was 9.6%, which was roughly one-fourth of those replying “Will get worse.”

 

In terms of their own country’s present circumstances, close to 60% of Japanese respondents said “My country has excellent leaders,” a roughly 20 percentage point increase from the previous survey and higher than in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. The percentage of Japanese respondents replying that “My country is able to be a leader in international society” also rose, but was still 10 to 20 percentage points lower than for the other five countries.

 

For reference, please also refer to the previous related “Society and Country” surveys: No. 20 (Nine-country survey; November 2019); No. 46 (Six-country survey; March 2022; and No. 62 (Six-country survey; April 2024).

 

Overview of the 78th Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds – Country and Society (6-Country Survey) 

 

My own country’s future

Percentage of respondents replying “Will get better”

78th Survey: India – 61.8%; China – 54.8%; United Kingdom – 34.0%; United States – 30.8%; South Korea – 23.5%; Japan – 15.6%

62nd Survey: China – 85.0%; India – 78.3%; South Korea – 41.4%; United States – 26.3%; United Kingdom – 24.6%; Japan – 15.3%

 

My country today
*Total percentage of respondents replying “Agree” or “Somewhat agree.”