Trust in regional cooperation in 2024 at 82% is at all times high since the launch of Balkan Barometer in 2015. This underscores a growing consensus on the transformative potential of collaborative efforts within the Western Balkans and suggests a robust foundation for continued collaboration. Trust in the proposition that regional cooperation can contribute to the wellbeing and security of the Western Balkan people is fairly uniform across the region, as seen in the graph below.

According to this latest Barometer, nearly four out of five respondents in the Western Balkans prioritise what brings them together rather than what divides them, with only about one out of ten holding the opposite view. This marks a significant increase in regional unity compared to the 2023 BBPO, highlighting strong support for collaborative efforts.

Responses to the 2024 Survey indicate that people believe nationalist politics across the Western Balkan economies is hampering regional cooperation, significantly more than a lack of trust due to history, prejudices or ethnic divisions. Nearly half of citizens identified that nationalist politics was hampering regional cooperation, followed by over a third mentioning lack of trust due to history and over a quarter answering prejudices.

The majority of Western Balkan citizens believe in the positive impact of EU integration on their economy, but there is some variation in the intensity of this belief across the region.
54% of respondents in the Western Balkans believe EU membership would be a good thing for their economy, while 10% remain sceptical about their economy's prospects for joining the EU. For the second year in a row, there is a decline in the belief that EU membership would be beneficial for their economy, this year by 8 percentage points less than in 2021.

At the same time, citizens remain hopeful that EU integration will happen within the upcoming decade, but there are large variations across the Western Balkans, including significant pockets of scepticism about the outcome of the accession process in some of the economies. About 20% of Western Balkan citizens envision joining the EU by 2030, while 23% expect between 2030 and 2035. However, fewer people (18%) believe their economy will never join the EU, a decrease of 10% points from 2022.

Economic prosperity and freedom to study/work in the EU are the top two expectations from EU membership, with 43% and 35% of respondents claiming so respectively, whilst freedom to travel and peace and stability rank equal with 27% of respondents.

The Western Balkans has embraced new digital tools. There is a strong recognition of the value of digital skills for workforce success, with around four out of five respondents acknowledging their significance. Respondents across the region place a high value on digital skills to succeed in today’s workforce, with approximately 80% of respondents recognising the significant value of digital skills, while only about 16% do not see their importance.

The optimism of Western Balkan citizens over the improvement of situation in their economies is dwindling. There is a noticeable change compared to 2023, as there is 5% less people expecting a better situation and 5% of them is expecting a worse situation. A bit less than a half, 46% believes everything will remain the same.

Distrusts in political parties remains the highest amongst the Western Balkans with 74% (1% less than last year), closely followed by parliaments (64%) and media (58%).

However, there is a notable increase in trust in judicial institutions (42%) and police (56%) compared to 2023 (34% and 45% respectively), indicating some shifting of perceptions. The increased trust in judicial institutions can be attributed to the judicial reforms and anti-corruption measures in the Western Balkans.

The people in the Western Balkans trust the least the reliability of information coming from social media, with 60%. However, at the same time people express the biggest trust, the same as towards the public TV and radio, towards people, groups and friends they follow on social media (45%). These sources are amongst the least distrusted, with 42%.

The inclusion of a question about the gender pay gap in the 2024 Balkan Barometer Public Opinion Survey revealed surprising results. Despite evidence of a gender pay gap in the region of some 16% as suggested by a research from 2023¹, 52% of respondents considered there was no gender pay gap, while only 36% acknowledged its existence. Amongst women, 45% denied the existence of a gender pay gap, with just 43% affirming it. These findings suggest a significant gap between the perceived and actual realities of gender pay disparities, potentially due to factors such as lack of awareness, social and cultural norms, or differences in personal experiences and perceptions of fairness in the workplace.

Youth opinions on the impact of EU membership have shown some interesting shifts over the past four years. While a majority still believes that joining the EU would be a good thing (59%), in 2024, this positive sentiment has slightly declined in favour of neutrality. More young people are now uncertain or neutral about the benefits, with a very small but consistent group seeing EU membership as negative.

Since 2021, the trend has revealed steady opinion of the youth in the power of enhanced regional cooperation, peaking in 2024 with 80% of youth tending to agree or fully agree that regional cooperation is necessary if economic, political or security situation is to improve.

Similar to other age groups in the survey, 57% of youth has ranked the rising prices/inflation and cost of living the first amongst problems facing their economy. Economic situation in general is ranked the second and corruption third. For the first time in almost a decade, unemployment was not amongst the top three concerns for the youth, as it declined in the region.