KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 – Malaysians appeared to still be reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020, with 68 per cent of local respondents saying they expected another such global event this year, according to a new Ipsos poll.

In its "Global Predictions for 2025” report, the research firm said Malaysians’ expectations of a fresh pandemic was also the highest in the region.

"Similar to 2023, Malaysians continue to rank the highest in this belief, with Indonesians and Thais sharing the same sentiment,” Ipsos said.

The global average was 47 per cent, down marginally from the 48 per cent in the previous edition.

Singapore saw a marked decline with 49 per cent of Singaporeans fearing a pandemic, down from 55 per cent before.

However, Indonesia and Thailand both saw increases, rising to 65 per cent and 61 per cent respectively.

In 2021, it was previously reported that while 51 per cent of Malaysians were worried about Covid-19, 54 per cent were worried about the country’s financial situation and corruption, 33 per cent were worried about unemployment, poverty, and inequality and the remaining 17 per cent were worried about overall crime in the country based on input from 500 respondents.

For its survey, Ipsos gathered data from 23,721 adults under the age of 75 across 33 countries, and conducted interviews from 25 October 2024 until 8 November 2024.