The cost of living topped the concerns of participants in a global survey for the fifth year in a row, while life expenses and debts emerged as an obstacle to having the desired number of children for 57 percent, according to the results of the fifth edition of the Future Investment Initiative Priorities Index (FII PRIORITY Compass), issued by the Future Investment Initiative Foundation.
The results showed that the cost of living tops concerns at the national level by 56 percent, followed by poverty and inequality issues by 38 percent, then unemployment by 36 percent, reflecting the continued economic pressures in shaping daily choices and families’ aspirations for the future.
The survey, conducted in partnership with Ipsos, included the opinions of more than 61,000 adults in 32 countries, and highlighted financial pressures, individuals’ expectations towards technology, and shifts in public confidence.
Princess Dr. Maha bint Mishari bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, CEO of the Future Investment Initiative Foundation, said that the index reveals common concerns and unmet needs, with the cost of living continuing to be at the top of global priorities for five years, stressing the importance of the index being a basic reference for investors and decision makers, to direct policies and capital towards opportunities that achieve returns and contribute to improving people’s lives.
The results revealed a clear difference in outlook on the future between the Global South and the Global North. 47 percent of participants in the southern countries saw that the world is moving in the right direction, compared to only 15 percent in the northern countries.
In the field of artificial intelligence, the answers showed that its benefits are welcomed, but it is accompanied by broad demands for its regulation. While 60 percent said it improved their lives, 85 percent called for global regulation of it.
This disparity extended to the acceptance of robots inside homes. 61 percent expressed their satisfaction with entrusting household chores to her, while the percentage fell to 53 percent when it came to caring for the elderly.
In terms of protecting children in the digital environment, 51 percent supported requiring documented parental consent for those under sixteen to use social media platforms, while 40 percent supported banning children’s accounts.
The survey also highlighted the relationship between financial burdens and family decisions. 57 percent reported that living expenses and debt constitute obstacles to having the number of children they desire.
Regarding the media and trust file, the results showed that the majority of participants trust traditional media to obtain accurate information, with 75 percent believing that they are politically biased.
The survey was conducted online during the period from April 24 to June 5, 2026, and included adults, aged 18 and over, in countries containing 66 percent of the world’s population.
Raising the price of a loaf of bread to 500 Sudanese pounds deepened the living pressures on families in Sudan, after the price rose by 35 percent, amid a decline in purchasing power and escalating production costs faced by bakery owners due to the high prices of flour, yeast, and fuel, in addition to the electricity outage and the decline in the value of the pound against the dollar. While citizens demand intervention to ease the burden on basic food, workers in the sector warn of the difficulty of containing the increases in light of the continuing war and deteriorating economic conditions.
Al-Tayeb Al-Jaali, the owner of a bakery in Omdurman, said that the recent increase in the price of a loaf came as a result of the rise in production costs, explaining that the price of a bag of flour reached 190,000 pounds, while the price of a carton of yeast reached 290,000 pounds, coinciding with the increase in workers’ daily wages by 25 percent.
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that the cost of one thousand liters of gas amounted to four million and 700 thousand pounds, while power outages exceed 12 hours a day, forcing bakery owners to use gasoline to operate them, at a cost of up to 400 thousand pounds per day.
Al-Jaali believed that reducing the rise in bread prices and alleviating the burdens on bakery owners and consumers require intervention from the authorities to reduce exchange rate fluctuations and curb inflation, in light of the continuing decline in the value of the Sudanese currency.
The increase in the price of bread has a negative impact on families and commercial activities that depend on it to provide their meals, at a time when the purchasing power of citizens is declining under the weight of the rise in the prices of basic commodities.
Suleiman Abdullah, a restaurant owner, said that the high cost of bread is adding new burdens to restaurant activity and limiting their ability to provide meals at prices that suit customers. He explained that serving dishes of beans, lentils, or liver with two loaves no longer satisfies some customers, especially with the small size of the loaf, which prompts them to buy an additional loaf and raises the cost of the meal.
As for citizen Essam Al-Taj, a taxi driver, he said that the rise in prices of basic goods with the continuation of the war has made securing the family’s daily needs more difficult, noting that his family needs bread worth about 20 thousand pounds per day. He added that he is forced to wait in long lines that may extend for three days to fill his car with gas, while his income is not enough to cover his family’s basic needs.
These pressures are exacerbated for families who have returned to the capital after displacement. Hussein Abdullah said that his and his family's return to Khartoum was accompanied by the hope of restoring basic services, from electricity and water to bread and medicine, but they found themselves facing living burdens that they could not bear.
For her part, Fatima Ahmed said that she is no longer able to provide bread for breakfast for her children before they go to school, adding that the family is trying to manage their children’s needs despite the difficult situation. She called on the authorities to support bakeries and mitigate the impact of rising prices on citizens.
In an attempt to address the crisis, the Governor of Khartoum State, Ahmed Othman Hamza, last Monday, inspected the mills of the Rotana factory in the Al-Jili industrial area, north of Bahri, to determine the volume of production and discuss ways to secure flour and continue bakery supplies.
Hamza pointed out that there is an overlap in specializations that affects the flow of distribution operations, and he directed that oversight be tightened and that imbalances be addressed to ensure the continued operation of bakeries and the provision of bread to citizens.
For his part, the head of the Bakeries Union, Issam Okasha, attributed the recent increase to the rise in global wheat prices and the decline in the value of the Sudanese pound, in addition to the increase in the prices of fuel, gas and yeast.
The price of the dollar in the parallel market reached about 10 thousand pounds, which increases the cost of importing production inputs and doubles the pressure on the bakery sector. Okasha said that addressing the crisis requires importing wheat flour from abroad and providing support to bakeries, but he acknowledged the difficulty of reaching sustainable solutions in light of the continuing war and deteriorating economic conditions.
He pointed out that the country's exports are largely limited to gold, the proceeds of which, according to him, go to support war spending. He expressed his hope that bread prices would not rise more than their current levels, and that the price of two loaves of bread would remain at one thousand pounds, taking into account the difficult living conditions faced by citizens.
In turn, economist Haitham Mohamed Fathi said that the bread crisis reflects structural imbalances in the production system, and is not limited to a passing wave of inflation. He explained that flour represents about 70 percent of the production cost, which makes any increase in its price directly reflected in the final price, especially in the absence of stable support mechanisms.
He added that the increase in fuel prices by more than 100 percent in some periods raised transportation and distribution costs, while the increase in electricity tariffs contributed to raising the cost of operation, in the absence of a clear food security policy.
Fathi called for dealing with bread as a basic commodity, by creating a strategic stock of wheat and strengthening the state’s role in importing and distributing it, instead of leaving the process entirely to market mechanisms.
He pointed out that there are differences related to the prices of foreign exchange used in importing flour and wheat, and the difference between these prices and the price of the dollar, which the private sector relies on in the parallel market to provide its hard currency needs.
The increase in bread prices adds a new burden to Sudanese who are exhausted by war, in light of displacement, hunger, and the erosion of purchasing power. With the rise in the cost of loaf production and the decline in family incomes, securing one of the simplest daily needs has become a major challenge, while the authorities’ ability to provide flour and control production costs remains a key factor in limiting the aggravation of the crisis.
Industrial production growth in India slowed to 6.7 percent on an annual basis last September, affected by the decline in the pace of growth in the manufacturing and electricity sectors, and the contraction in mining activity, according to government data issued on Wednesday.
The growth was below the expectations of economists polled by Reuters, amounting to 7.3 percent, and was also lower than the revised increase of 7.8 percent recorded in August.
In the manufacturing sector, production rose by 7.6 percent year-on-year during September, compared to an adjusted growth of 8.6 percent during the previous month. Also, electricity generation growth slowed to 11.2 percent, compared to 12.3 percent in August.
On the other hand, the contraction in mining activity deepened to 6.2 percent on an annual basis, compared to an adjusted decline of 4.6 percent during the previous month.
In terms of consumer goods, production of durable goods, including cars and phones, increased by 6 percent during September, compared to a revised increase of 10.5 percent during August. As for non-durable goods, such as food and hygiene supplies, their production recorded a growth of 1.4 percent, after a decline of 1.1 percent during the previous month.
Production of capital goods also rose by 10.4 percent year-on-year, compared to a revised increase of 15.9 percent in August.
Over the period from April to September, industrial production grew by 6.8 percent, compared to 4.4 percent during the same period of the previous year.
