At the start of 2026, Ifop-Fiducial for Sud Radio asked French people about their state of mind and the issues they consider priorities, as well as the themes that dominate their conversations.
The climate of opinion remains dominated by pessimism. Only 26% of French people say they are optimistic about the future, for themselves and their children, while 74% say they are pessimistic, including more than one in five who are very pessimistic (22%). Pessimism is thus well up on January 2025 (+10 points). Generational differences remain marked: 29% of the under-35s say they are optimistic, compared with only 20% of those aged 65 and over, confirming the moral decline of the older generations.
Against this backdrop, French people’s priorities appear to be highly hierarchical. Health comes out on top by a wide margin, with 85% of French people rating it as a priority, at a historically high level (+5 points compared to August 2025). This is followed by rising prices and inflation (75%), and education (74%), both of which have established themselves as major concerns. Security issues in the broadest sense – the fight against terrorism (74%), crime (69%) and drug trafficking (66%) – also occupy a central place.
In a tight budgetary context, reducing public debt is considered a priority by 58% of French people, a level that has risen sharply over the long term, with an increase of 21 points since the summer of 2023, reflecting growing sensitivity to public finance issues.
Finally, when it comes to the topics of conversation among the French at the start of 2025, almost three out of four say they have discussed the fire in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana (73%), a high-profile event that has had a particularly strong impact on public opinion. The same proportion said they had discussed the cold snap that hit France (73%).
International issues also featured prominently in discussions. The US attack on Venezuela was mentioned by 59% of French people, ahead of Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland (48%) and the war in Ukraine (36%).
