Share of Europeans who think their country would be better off outside EU 2023

The share of respondents in the European Union stating that their country would fare better outside of the EU is at a low level in 2023. On average, around two-thirds of EU citizens disagree with the statement, with only 28 percent agreeing either partially or completely. This result mirrors the trend of declining euroscepticism across the EU in general, as citizens have become more positive about intra-European cooperation in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine crisis. 

Regional variations in euroscepticism

Denmark remains the country with the smallest proportion of citizens thinking their country could do better outside the union, with other similar small countries with economies reliant on the EU showing similar trends, such as Finland, the Netherlands, and Lithuania. The countries with the greatest share of respondents agreeing that their country would do better outside the EU include Poland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy These countries tend to have strong contingents who disagree with the EU on cultural issues, notably far-right parties in Poland (PiS) and Italy (Brothers of Italy/Lega). Even in these countries with more eurosceptic populaces, all countries apart from Poland had a greater share of their population disagreeing that their country would be better off outside of the EU.