Tunisia

Key findings in 2015

Percentage of respondents who agree with the following statements	Tunisia	SEMED	Transition region	Western Europe
Economic situation good or excellent	13	27	22	34
Economic situation in the country improving	17	44	29	36
Economic situation in the area or city improving	21	35	32	35
Good time to find a job	21	27	25	34
Comfortable living on present income	17	15	17	36

“SEMED” refers to the average of four countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. “Western Europe” refers to the average of five comparator countries: France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Regional averages in the country assessments are based on population-weighted averages of the country scores.

 

Satisfaction with the economic situation and with personal circumstances

13 per cent of Tunisians think that the economic situation in their country is either “good” or “excellent”. This is the lowest figure in the SEMED region and is also lower than the averages for the transition region (22 per cent) and the western European comparator countries (34 per cent).

Tunisians are also pessimistic about the future of the economy: only 17 per cent believe that their national economy is getting better and 21 per cent believe that local economic conditions are improving. 21 per cent of respondents believe that it is a good time to find a job. These figures are both the lowest in the SEMED region and well below the averages for the transition region and the western European comparator countries. Moreover, only 17 per cent of Tunisians state that they can live comfortably on their present income.

Life satisfaction nevertheless compares well with the rest of the SEMED region. More specifically, 39 per cent of Tunisians report that they are satisfied with their lives. However, this figure is lower than both the transition region (43 per cent) and the western European averages (74 per cent). In addition, 73 per cent of respondents believe that they will be more satisfied with their lives in the near future.

 

Trust in institutions

93 per cent of Tunisians express confidence in their military. Confidence in the judicial system (61 per cent), the government (52 per cent), elections (54 per cent), and the freedom of the media (77 per cent) is also higher than the corresponding figures in the transition region.

80 and 82 per cent of Tunisians believe that corruption is widespread in businesses and the government, respectively. These figures are comparable to the averages in the transition region and the SEMED region but substantially higher than in western Europe.

 

Channels of communication

20 per cent of Tunisians report that they use a landline telephone in their home. This figure is slightly higher than the SEMED region average (17 per cent) but well below the averages for the transition region (47 per cent) and the western European comparator countries (78 per cent). 88 per cent of respondents use a mobile phone to make and receive personal calls.
47 per cent of Tunisians have access to the internet. This is slightly higher (6 percentage points) than the SEMED region average, but still substantially lower than the transition region (63 per cent) and the western European comparator averages (90 per cent). Additional results indicate that women are almost as likely as men to use a mobile phone and the internet.

 

Self-assessed health

57 per cent of Tunisians agree or strongly agree that their physical health is near perfect. Although this is the lowest figure in the SEMED region, it is still higher than the transition region average (52 per cent) and is equal to the western European average (57 per cent). Male respondents are 13 percentage points more likely to report near-perfect health than female respondents.

 

Quality of public services

Tunisians are less satisfied with the quality of public services compared to the average respondent in the SEMED region: the public transportation systems (41 per cent), the health care system (39 per cent), the roads and highways (33 per cent), the educational system (32 per cent), and the affordable housing (27 per cent). Overall, the satisfaction with public services is lower than the levels observed in all other regions.

 

Social and economic mobility

91 per cent of respondents believe that people can get ahead in life by working hard. This is close to the SEMED region average (93 per cent) and higher than both the western European (81 per cent) and transition region (62 per cent) averages.

 

Gender and inclusion

71 per cent of Tunisians believe that women are treated with respect and dignity in their country. This figure is comparable with both the SEMED (73 per cent) and the transition region (70 per cent) averages. Tunisian women are, however, 12 percentage points less likely to report this than Tunisian men. Similarly, younger respondents are less likely to agree with the statement than their older counterparts. Compared to 2011, the figure decreased by 8 percentage points.

About 45 per cent of Tunisians believe that their city or area is a good place for ethnic minorities compared to 65 per cent in the transition region and 83 per cent in the western Europe. 61 per cent also believe that their city or area is good for immigrants, the highest percentage in the SEMED region. This figure is also higher than the transition region average (57 per cent), but substantially lower than the western European average (79 per cent).

 

Satisfaction with the government

Tunisians are relatively dissatisfied with their government’s efforts to help the poor (23 per cent) and to preserve the environment (31 per cent). Both figures are below the averages for all other regions.

 

Civic engagement

Only 6 per cent of Tunisians report that they made donations to a charity in the month before the survey. This figure is lower than the averages for the SEMED region (14 per cent), the transition region (26 per cent), and the Western European comparator countries (50 per cent). 11 per cent of respondents report that they volunteered in the month before the survey. Although this is the highest figure in the SEMED region, it is still well below the averages for the transition region (16 per cent) and western European countries (24 per cent).