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Major reform of the international economic system is needed in order to solve the current crisis, according to a new global poll of more than 29,000 people carried out for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service.

As G20 leaders prepare to meet in London this week, 70% of those across 24 countries polled by GlobeScan think "major changes" are required to the way the global economy is run. Only 4% think no significant changes are needed.

Majorities in most countries – on average 68% – also see the need for major changes to their own country's economy.

Of the 24 countries polled, 15 are part of the G20 and, among those countries, 65% think major changes are required to the international economic system, while 62% see the need for major changes to their own country's economy.

When asked whether the downturn in the global economy has negatively affected them and their family over six in ten (62%) said it had affected them at least "a fair amount". Thirty-one per cent say that it has affected them "a great deal". Both these figures are little changed from a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ poll in mid-2008.

More than two in five (44%) say they have been personally affected by shortage of credit for mortgages and other loans at least a fair amount, with one in five saying it has affected them a great deal.

The findings suggest that people in developing countries are being harder hit by the economic downturn than those in richer nations.

People in Kenya (74%), Egypt (64%), the Philippines (55%) and Turkey (50%) are most likely to say that the global economic downturn is affecting them personally "a great deal". Mexico (55%) and Nigeria (39%), meanwhile, have among the highest proportions of people saying they have been negatively affected "a great deal" by the credit shortage.

Asked when they expected their situation to improve, those personally affected by the economic downturn were divided between those who think it will last more than two years (45%) and those who say it will recover sooner than that (46%).

The poll also suggests that, despite recent price falls, the high cost of food continues to negatively affect a much higher proportion of people than the economic downturn.

Three in four families (76%) across the 24 countries say it is affecting them at least a fair amount, with 47% saying it is affecting them a great deal, down from 59% six months ago. Again, citizens of developing countries are most likely to report negative impacts from food prices.

The results are drawn from a survey of 29,913 adult citizens across 24 countries, conducted for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan, together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.

GlobeScan coordinated fieldwork between 24 November 2008 and 27 February 2009.

GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller commented: "The poll reveals a global mandate for bold action at this week's G20 leaders summit. Results suggest most people see the global economic system as flawed."

He added: "The poll also highlights the 'forgotten crisis' of high food prices that is still having the most negative impact on many people's lives."

Notes to Editors

Detailed findings and country-by-country findings are available in a PDF document on the right-hand side of this page.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service Press Office