Interview in Perú 21
The perception of a significant group of the population about the country’s progress is quite pessimistic and this stance even extends to the perception about the future. This is despite the economic growth of last year that the government of Dina Boluarte and her ministers boast about and the recent increase in the minimum living wage by 10%.
According to an Ipsos survey carried out on behalf of APOYO Consultoría, 63% of Peruvians perceive that the country is going backwards and only 7% consider that it is progressing. And although the percentage of Peruvians who believe that the country is going backwards is 12 points lower than in December 2023, the perception continues to be one of the most pessimistic since 1991. It even exceeds the levels observed during the pandemic.
The feeling of regression is more marked in the north of the country, among older adults and especially among women, where 72% still perceive that the country is going backwards, with no improvements compared to 2023.
“What the population is saying as a whole is that Peru is not advancing not only in economic terms, but also in social terms. This is one of the worst results since the 90s,” said José Carlos Saavedra, partner at APOYO Consultoría.
According to Saavedra, behind this highlight is the perception that politics is not contributing and working in favor of the interests of citizens. He explains that the indicator of regression began to advance from 2017, a period in which the political crisis of several presidents began, which led to fights and vacancies.
Thus, as a result of the above, according to Saavedra, citizens observe that the political system and its representatives are not acting in favor of the common good or addressing citizen demands, but are playing a separate game, in favor of their interests.
Implications
For the APOYO Consulting partner, this perception of the country by Peruvians will have implications for their voting decisions in the upcoming presidential elections in 2026.
“This has to do with the dissatisfaction that people have about democracy and generates a relatively favorable environment for candidates that promise radical and anti-system changes, because the current political system is not giving hope to 63% of the population,” he says.
He also indicated that another implication of the negative stance of the population is their decision to leave the country. He points out that a fact from recent years that is consistent with the results of the survey is the “significant” increase in the number of people who leave the country, because they perceive that Peru is no longer progressing.
In addition, Saavedra mentioned the decisions that families are making about their investment as economic implications of this pessimism. He said that in our country it was common for families with surpluses to invest in the real estate sector, but perhaps now it is more attractive to invest outside the country.
“(This negative perception of the country’s progress) has both political and social implications of emigration and immigration, but also economic ones. No one is going to invest their money in the long term in the country if they feel that it is not progressing,” he commented.
Growth is not enough
The economist argued that the percentage of the population that perceives the economic situation to be very good and good has hardly advanced. In contrast, the share of people who consider the situation to be very bad or bad fell from 67% to 54%.
“This (the figures) reflects in a certain way the economic recovery experienced last year, but it is not enough to perceive that Peru is progressing,” he said.
He added that the growth achieved last year is not enough to improve expectations for the country’s economic future. Saavedra specified that 40% of the population believes that the country will be worse off economically within 12 months.
According to Saavedra, these results show the existence of structural problems such as those experienced by the political and institutional front. He said that these are reflected in access to poor public services, citizen insecurity and impunity.
“At least, for the moment, this gradual economic recovery that we are experiencing is not enough to give a broader sense of progress or improve the country’s expectations,” he commented.
Source: https://peru21.pe/economia/apoyo-consultoria-cerca-de-6-de-cada-10-peruanos-considera-que-el-pais-ha-retrocedido/#google_vignette
