New Zealanders are pretty unaware of the state of their country, according to a new poll that has ranked New Zealand as the worst developed nation in an ‘Index of Ignorance’.
The Ipsos MORI Perils of Perception survey highlights how wrong the public across 33 countries are about some key issues and features of the population in their country.
The survey is based on questions about statistics in a respondent’s home country, for example asking ‘What proportion of the country do you think…
- have access to the internet?’
- are overweight or obese?’
- are immigrants?’
The answers were compared to the actual figures and overall scores for each country were compiled into an ‘Index of Ignorance.’ New Zealand ranked fifth worst overall in the Index and was the worst of the developed nations included in the survey.
For those who are curious, you can take the quiz here and see how well you know the make up of New Zealand.
The survey has been widely covered in New Zealand. Examples include:
Stuff.co.nz: NZers underestimate obesity, wealth but the numbers aren’t gospel
Otago Daily Times: NZ named most ignorant developed country
RNZ: Global poll labels NZers ignorant
New Zealand Herald: New Zealand named the world’s most ignorant developed country
Stuff.co.nz: Global survey finds New Zealanders know little about population features