Countries and world leaders

United Kingdom leaving the European Union

Australian views of the United Kingdom may have been affected by Brexit, and the adverse coverage of the protracted Brexit negotiations.

Seven in ten Australians (70%) say that the United Kingdom leaving the European Union will be a bad thing for the European Union. The majority (62%) say it will be a bad thing for the United Kingdom. Fewer, but still a majority (58%), say Brexit will be a bad thing for the West.

Pessimism about Brexit aligns with Lowy Institute polling from 2016, in which a majority of Australians (51%) said that the United Kingdom ‘should remain a member of the European Union’. Only 19% said it should leave.

Countries and world leaders
United Kingdom leaving the European Union

Question

Which one of the following statements comes closest to your own view about what might happen if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union? If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union:

This question was asked in 2016.

These results are drawn from a nationally representative mobile and fixed-line telephone survey of 1002 Australian adults between 1 and 9 June 2016, conducted by Field Works Market Research on behalf of the Lowy Institute.