Indians lead world in focus on global news, says BBC survey

84% Indians anxious to learn about what was happening around the world, the highest among the countries covered with global average being 69%

Indians are more interested about what is going on around them in the world than the citizens of any other country, a BBC survey has found.

In a survey done by BBC World News Research, almost 84 per cent of the Indians polled said they were anxious to learn about what was happening around the world.

According to the study, this is the highest among the countries covered with the global average being 69 per cent.

Americans, Germans, Japanese, South Africans, Australians, Hong Kongers, Singaporeans and Indians were surveyed, with a total sample size of 7,691 adults.

Among the 1,005 surveyed in India, nearly 58 per cent said they use world news coverage to make decisions about how to protect their family, while globally it is only 36 per cent.

Almost 76 per cent of the Indian respondents said news from around the world was more relevant to them now than in the past, while globally only 64 per cent of those who took the survey felt that way.

Almost 46 per cent Indians find global news stories useful to make financial choices, whereas this is only 28 per cent among the other countries included in the survey.

It further notes that over 51 per cent of Indians said they have given advice to others based on the news around the world, while globally that is only 26 per cent.

The survey also notes that Indians are more concerned about news stories related to terrorism, war, health and the environment.

"Terrorism was the main concern in five of the eight countries, including India, where 71 per cent of the people said it was something they were concerned about.

"Indians are also more likely than any of the other people to be concerned about the environment (62 per cent), health (63 per cent), corruption (60 per cent) and human rights (52 per cent)," the survey said.

It found that 52 per cent of Indians read news stories on social media, compared to a global average of just 38 per cent.

Only 1 per cent of respondents in India said they are not concerned about any global news stories.