Eighty-eight per cent of adults in Great Britain named the cost of living as an important issue facing the UK in the latest ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, with the NHS and the economy close behind.
The cost of living was cited by 88 per cent of adults, making it the most commonly reported concern in the latest period covered by the Office for National Statistics survey — a position it has held, alongside the NHS, since October 2022. The NHS was named by 78 per cent of respondents, and the economy by 70 per cent. The ONS posted the findings on its official account, drawing on its July 2026 bulletin covering the period 1 to 26 July 2026, which reported the same headline figures as the preceding June 2026 release.
Beyond the top three, the figures show crime was cited by 61 per cent of respondents, immigration by 59 per cent, employment by 54 per cent, climate change and the environment by 53 per cent, and housing by 52 per cent.
The share naming the NHS has fallen compared with June 2024 and June 2025, according to the ONS bulletin, while cost-of-living concern remained stable year-on-year. That gap — between easing headline economic data and persistently high public concern — suggests many adults don’t yet feel the pressure lifting.
The data cover Great Britain as a whole and the ONS release does not break figures down by region, so no Kent-specific percentages are available. But the issues dominating the national survey — NHS access, household costs, employment — are the same pressures bearing on Kent families and businesses. Any local implications should be treated as contextual rather than directly measured from this release.
Source: @ONS