Degrowth is Popular!

1. A survey of people in 34 European countries found that, on average, 61% of people favour post-growth. The study also finds that support for post-growth is lower among disadvantaged communities, indicating the need to highlight the key role of redistributive policies that can improve livelihoods and economic security for the working classes. Source: Futures, 2022.

2. A survey study done by the German Environment Agency found that 88% agree that “we must find ways of living well regardless of economic growth”, and 77% agree that “there are natural limits to growth, and we went beyond them”. Source: Umwelt Bundesamt, 2023.

3. A consumer research study found that 70% of more than 10,000 people surveyed in 29 high-income and middle-income countries believe that “overconsumption is putting our planet and society at risk”. 65% believe that “our society would be better off if people shared more and owned less.” Source: Sustainable Brands, 2014.

4. A study exploring two survey datasets found that 61% of the Spanish public hold growth-critical positions (agrowth or degrowth), with less than one-third of respondents in the survey expressing support for green growth. Source: Ecological Economics, 2019.

5. A responsible consumption survey found that 52% of French people believed that "we need to review all or part of our economic model and get away from the myth of infinite growth". Source: GreenFlex, 2021.

6. Poll shows that 81% of people in Britain believe that the prime objective of the government should be to secure “the greatest happiness” for people rather than “the greatest wealth”. Source: BBC, 2006.

7. Two in three people across 17 G20 countries surveyed (68%) agree that the way the economy works should prioritise the health and wellbeing of people and nature, rather than focusing solely on profit and increasing wealth. Source: Earth4All, 2024.

7. Another French study found that 67% of respondents had a "favourable" or "quite favourable" opinion of the term "degrowth". Importantly, people from all the political spectrum had a majority favourable opinion of "degrowth" (86% for the far left and 59% for the far right). Source: Odoxa, 2020. Also, see figure below.

1. A survey of nearly 500 sustainability scholars found that 77% call for post-growth pathways in high-income countries (80% call for post-growth in high-income countries after 2030). Source: Ecological Economics (2023). Also, see the write-up here: “Scientific consensus on post-growth over green growth”.

2. A study exploring two survey datasets found that 69% of international scientists hold growth-critical positions (agrowth or degrowth), with less than one-third of respondents in the surveys expressing support for green growth. Source: Ecological Economics, 2019.

3. A survey of staff at the German Environment Agency found that 99% of environmental protection specialists indicate an implied preference for growth-critical concepts (post-growth/agrowth/degrowth). 75% express an explicit preference for growth-critical concepts, and specialists with more knowledge of growth-critical concepts are even more likely to prefer them. Source: Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022.

4. A survey of nearly 800 climate policy researchers around the world found that 73% support post-growth (agrowth and degrowth) positions. In the EU, 86% of climate policy researchers support post-growth positions. Researchers also found that respondents’ positions move away from green growth and towards degrowth as the GDP per capita of their country of origin increases. This reinforces the idea that growth up to a certain point is desirable; beyond that, it becomes 'uneconomic'. Source: Nature Sustainability (2023). Also, see the press release: “Green growth loses favour with climate policy scientists”, a write-up in The Conversation; and the figure below.

1. Post-growth and degrowth frameworks call for sufficiency-oriented policies. A study of European citizens’ assemblies found that sufficiency policies enjoy very high approval rates (93%). The study also found that sufficiency objectives achieved through regulatory policies had the highest support. Source: Energy Research and Social Science, 2023.

2. The job guarantee is a central post-growth/degrowth policy, and it is highly popular in polls. In the UK, 72% of people support it. In the US, it’s 78%, and in France, it’s 79%. Few policies enjoy such widespread support, and research shows they can appeal strongly to working-class voters who otherwise feel alienated from the political process.

3. Universal Basic Income (UBI) is another core post-growth policy proposal and has support across much of Europe. Nearly half of all British adults (48%) would support the introduction of UBI. In Germany, it's 55%, in Spain, 53% and in Italy, 52% of adults would support it. Source YouGov poll, 2022.

4. Shortening working weeks is key to driving down production and demand. In the US, support for a shorter working week was an astounding 92%. A 4-day workweek trial in Ireland resulted in 100% of participant employees saying they would like to continue the reduced work schedule (citing many other benefits). Many nations in Europe have already been trialling shorter working weeks with significant success. Source: EuroNews, 2024.

5. According to a 4-year survey across Brazil, the UK, China and Sweden, an overwhelming majority of people agree with reducing overall consumption and residential energy use and limiting air travel. Similarly, a majority also supports reducing meat consumption. Source: CAST, 2023. See also their interactive dashboard.

1. A survey shows that a majority of people around the world (56%) agree with the statement “Capitalism does more harm than good”. In France it is 69%, in India it is 74%. Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, 2020.

2. A study found that in 28 of 34 countries, a majority of respondents hold anti-capitalist positions. Source: Economic Affairs, 2023.

3. A survey of 1000 individuals among G20 countries, found that 74% of people support the idea that their country’s economic priorities move beyond profit and increasing wealth and focus more on human well-being and ecological protection. Source: Global Commons Alliance, 2021.

4. A survey of youth climate movement groups found that more than half say that the root cause of the climate and ecological crisis is “a system that puts profit over people and planet”. 89% of this group specified the system as capitalism. Source: Climate Vanguard, 2023. Also, see figure below.

1. Poll shows that 70% of US citizens believe that “environmental protection is more important than economic growth”. Source: Yale Climate Opinion Maps, 2018. Note that Yale has not used this question in more recent climate opinion surveys.

2. Poll shows that substantial majorities of people in 10 of 12 European countries believe that protecting the environment should be made a priority even if it comes at the expense of economic growth. Source: European Council on Foreign Relations, 2019.

3. Similarly, in another study, the majority of respondents in 26 out of 33 European countries expressed agreement with the idea of decelerating growth for ecological reasons. Source: International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 2021.

4. A review of representative surveys in Europe and the US finds that when people have to choose between growth and environmental protection, environmental protection is prioritized in most surveys and countries. Source: Ecological Economics, 2018.

5. An IPSOS poll showed that 43% of UK respondents agreed with the statement, "More focus should be placed on protecting the environment, even if that harms economic growth". Source: IPSOS, 2022.

6. A comprehensive study of almost 100,000 individuals from 65 countries found that 54.5% of people chose to prioritise protecting the environment, even if it caused slower economic growth and some loss of jobs. Source: World Value Survey, 2022.

7. Gallup poll data shows a majority of US respondents believe that environmental protection should be given priority, even at the risk of curbing growth. Source: Gallup, 2023. Also, see figure below.

It's important to note that these last six studies are remarkable because respondents are willing to prioritize the environment over economic growth, even though they may assume that harming growth could have social downsides.

We could expect that if respondents knew that post-growth policies can improve social well-being, support for these statements may be even stronger.

You can find more scientific papers about attitudes and polls on degrowth and post-growth on the degrowth database ↓↓

Learn more about degrowth in the pages below: