MNE Pulse: Less than half of citizens believe Montenegro is moving in the right direction, nearly half lack sufficient monthly income

The December findings of the MNE Pulse survey indicate that 44,7 percent of citizens believe that Montenegro is moving in a good or very good direction, while 38,4 percent consider the current direction to be wrong, and 16,9 percent have no opinion. This means that less than half of the population are satisfied with the direction in which the country is heading.

In addition, nearly half of respondents (47,1 percent) state that their monthly income is not sufficient to cover basic expenses, while 36,8 percent manage to “balance” their budget. One third (33 percent) report living worse than last year, 25,5 percent say they are living better, and 41,5 percent notice no difference, indicating that economic insecurity is becoming a key issue in Montenegro.

The most common feelings among citizens over the past two months are concern (26,1 percent), hope (17,8 percent), indifference (15,7 percent), and sadness (15,6 percent), while satisfaction (9 percent) and anger (6,3 percent) are less frequent, the survey shows.

Data collection was conducted using the CAPI method from December 8th to December 18th of 2025, on a three-stage stratified random sample that included a thousand adult citizens of Montenegro.

MNE Pulse is a joint initiative of the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) and the DAMAR Institute, aimed at helping those involved in the strategic democratic development of society make decisions based on reliable data and thorough analyses, with citizens at the center of focus. In this way, the quality of public debate on important issues can be improved, while also raising the level of accountability of all stakeholders.