Research done by the managing counselor of Allianz Greece Petros Papadopoulos shows that 6 out of 10 Greeks (56%) are “satisfied or mostly satisfied” by their current situation and only 2 out of 19 (20%) agree with that when it comes to the nation as a whole. Regarding the current events in Greece, during the next 12 months after the credit crisis, Greeks are more pessimistic than they were in May 2008.

The younger ones – 29 years old and younger feel more secure regarding their professional life in comparison to the older people. The personal optimism of people around 30 years of age is higher - 55%. As a whole the optimism dies out with the increase of the age and the percentage of 50 year olds is only 38%.

On the other hand, citizens of the Attika region are more pessimistic than citizens from other parts of the country. Only 15% of the people who live in Attika are optimistic about the future of the country for the next year. 41% of Cretans are optimistic about Greece’s future. In terms of how people see their own future, again the citizens of Attika are mostly pessimistic. The people who are most positive (52%) are citizens of Epir in Western Greece and Crete, followed by the regions of Macedonia, Thrace, and Thesalia.

Regarding the country’s future in the next 12 months, Greeks show that they are very concerned about three things – the economy, the retirement funds, and the international credit markets.

The research shows that the investment plans of foreigners are also affected. Big part of them have said they are thinking of increasing their investments in banks due to the crisis. The American hold first place with 54% and are followed by the Swiss and the Austrians with 43% each. 41% of Greeks have answered positively to the question.

Allianz’s research was done during October and November of 2008 and is based on a phone market research with the participation of 1000 citizens older than 15 years old from each of the following countries – Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and USA.