The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kosovo published today the 24th edition of the Public Pulse Brief.

The Public Pulse opinion poll, based on interviews conducted in April 2023, outlines findings on ten key indicators which cover socio-economic, environmental, and political issues, including transitional justice. As with all previous publications, data and indicators are disaggregated by ethnicity and gender to provide detailed information on differences in perceptions of development challenges faced by the people living in Kosovo.    

Some of the main findings of the April 2023 opinion poll include:

• An increase in respondents’ satisfaction with the work of all Kosovo central institutions. On average 45.8% of the respondents were satisfied with their work.
• Satisfaction with the performance of the executive was recorded at 45.8%, marking a 4.8 percentage points increase compared to November 2022.  
• Satisfaction with the work of the Prime Minister was recorded at 51.5%, a 6.6 percentage points increase from November last year.  
• Satisfaction with the work of the Assembly stood at 46.5%, compared to 39.1% in November 2022, whereas satisfaction with the Kosovo Assembly Speaker stood at 58.3%, compared to 50.8% in November 2022.  
• Satisfaction level with the President was recorded at 60.3% as compared to 56.8% in November 2022.  
• There was an increase in the satisfaction rate towards Courts and the Office of the Chief Prosecutor, both standing at 29%, compared to 24.4% and 22%, respectively, in November 2022.    
• Satisfaction with the economic direction was recorded at 17.79%, a 6.97 percentage points increase compared to November 2022 when it stood at 10.82%.

The Democratization Index (DI) decreased by 0.04 points (1.48) from November 2022 when it stood at 1.52 points. However, an increase of 0.17 points was recorded on the Economic Confidence Index (ECI), which stood at 1.03, compared to 0.86 in November 2022. Both DI and ECI are measured on a scale from 0 points (minimum) to 3 points (maximum). Values below 1.5 are considered negative, whereas those above 1.5 show a positive outlook for most people regarding the democratization and economic indexes.

A significantly higher number of respondents were ready to protest for political reasons in April 2023 (37.6%) than in November 2022 (24.2%). This number matched the number of people who were ready to protest for political reasons in April 2022. Data disaggregated by ethnicity showed that a higher number of Kosovo Serbs (40.5%) were ready to protest for political reasons compared to Kosovo Albanians (28.5%) and members of other Kosovo communities (29.5%).

Findings show a slight increase in the sense of safety among respondents with 82.85% feeling safe when outside. Data disaggregated by gender showed that more men (83.9%) than women (81.7%) stated that they feel safe and somewhat safe when outside.  

Unemployment (32.7%), poverty (20.1%), and inflation (11.6%) were ranked as the most pressing problems in Kosovo.

Public Pulse #24 data recorded a decrease in the number of respondents who perceived that employment in the public institutions of Kosovo is merit-based. Only 22% of respondents believed that employment in public institutions is merit-based in April 2023, compared to 27% in November 2022.

On average, 23.5% of respondents claimed they perceive large-scale corruption to be present in public and international institutions in Kosovo, compared to 21.1% in November 2022.

When asked about their right to live in a healthy and clean environment, a total of 14.5% of respondents claimed they have no knowledge about this topic, and this number has been decreasing since November 2021 when it was recorded at 27.5%, April 2022 when it was recorded at 18.5% and November 2022 at 19.6%. A total of 38.3% said they knew little about this topic, followed by 32.3% who had average knowledge about this topic and 14.9% who knew a lot about this topic.

Public Pulse #24 also asked questions about transitional justice. Findings showed that 58.4% of Kosovo Albanians and 70% of members of other Kosovo communities believed fully or believed that the Agreement on the Path to Normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia will affect their lives positively, while 24.8% of Kosovo Serbs believed the same.

You can find the report in three languages at this link: https://www.undp.org/kosovo/publications/public-pulse-brief-xxiv 

Additional data obtained through this and previous polls will be made available in the Public Pulse Data Visualization Platform and ASKData: https://bit.ly/44GqPyi 

The findings presented in this brief are based on an opinion poll which surveyed 1,306 respondents in Kosovo over the age of 18, from 5 to 25 April 2023. The sample included the same number of men and women from all Kosovo municipalities and regions, covering both urban and rural areas. In terms of ethnic representation, the sample included 896 Kosovo Albanians, 210 Kosovo Serbs, and 200 members of other Kosovo communities (Kosovo Ashkali, Kosovo Bosnians, Kosovo Egyptians, Kosovo Gorani, Kosovo Roma, and Kosovo Turks).  

The Public Pulse project, which started in 2002, is funded and supported by the American people through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Kosovo.

For more information, please contact:

Burbuqe Dobranja, UNDP Communications Associate  

Phone: (038) 249 066 ext. 410; mobile: 049 720 800      e-mail: burbuqe.dobranja@undp.org

Danijela Mitić, Communications Associate UNDP  

Phone: (038) 249 066 ext. 412; mobile: 049 720 824     e-mail: danijela.mitic@undp.org 


PR in Albanian