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German Embassy survey on UK attitudes towards Germany
Flags of UK and Germany, © dpa
The vast majority of UK adults hold a positive view of Germany, a comprehensive survey commissioned by the German Embassy in London on UK attitudes towards Germany has revealed.
Nearly seven in ten (69%) respondents say their view of Germany is positive, while only 16% say their view of Germany is negative, the survey conducted by Deltapoll shows.
Germany is regarded as an important international partner of the United Kingdom. It comes second among non-English speaking countries, behind France. Nearly half (48%) of respondents think the UK has a close partnership with Germany. At the same time, a third of respondents believe that the relationship between Germany and the UK has deteriorated since Brexit.
There is strong support for seeing the UK and Germany work more closely together in the future. The areas in which respondents want the UK to work more closely with Germany include trade and investment, defence and international security, taking action on climate change and environmental protection as well as energy security and the move to renewable energy. Similarly, there is strong support for the UK to work more closely with the European Union in many areas.
However, only slightly more than a third of all UK adults say they are interested in what goes on day-to-day in Germany. In terms of specific interests, German culture, Germany as a travel destination for tourists and Germany's role in the world top the list for the people of the UK.
German Ambassador to the United Kingdom Miguel Berger said:
“We wanted to understand UK attitudes towards Germany three years after Brexit. It has been a very important stock-taking exercise. The UK public’s view of Germany is very positive. While interest in what goes on day-to-day in Germany is not as high as I would have wished, I am delighted about the strong support for closer cooperation between the United Kingdom and Germany and especially between the United Kingdom and the European Union.”
As part of the survey, many narratives concerning modern Germany were explored. A majority of respondents in the UK agree with statements such as ‘People living in Germany generally have a high quality of life’, ‘Germany, by its actions, is facing up to its responsibility for crimes committed during the Nazi era, including the Holocaust’ and ‘Generally speaking, Germany is a relatively equal society’.
Click here to read the Survey Executive Summary
Deltapoll interviewed 2,064 UK adults online between 1st and 4th September 2023. The data have been weighted to be representative of the UK adult population as a whole.