Sri Lanka turns more optimistic as Govt. approval remains strong, Mood of the Nation Poll finds
COLOMBO – The government’s approval rating stood at 65% in early February 2026, remaining statistically stable from 62% recorded a year ago, according to the latest ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll conducted by Verité Research.
The survey, conducted in partnership with Vanguard Survey (Pvt) Ltd, carries a margin of error of ±3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The disapproval rating remained low and largely unchanged compared to February 2025, the report said.
For the first time in the poll’s four-year history, respondents who rated current economic conditions as “good” or “excellent” outnumbered those who described them as “poor”.
Perceptions of the country’s economic trajectory also showed marked improvement. The proportion of respondents who said the economy was “getting better” rose to 64%, up from 55% a year earlier, while the share who believed it was “getting worse” remained broadly unchanged. The percentage of respondents expressing no opinion declined, suggesting increased certainty and optimism about the country’s economic direction.
These sentiments are consolidated into an Economic Confidence Index, which ranges from minus 100 to plus 100. The index climbed to +36, a significant rise from +14 recorded in early 2025.
Public satisfaction with the overall direction of the country also reached a new high. A majority of 59% said they were satisfied with “the way things are going”, marking the first time in four years of polling that satisfaction levels exceeded the 50% threshold.
When evaluating the present administration against previous governments across multiple policy areas, respondents gave the highest positive rating to efforts aimed at reducing drugs and crime, surpassing even perceptions of progress in curbing corruption.
The ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll forms part of Verité Research’s syndicated survey instrument designed to support its macro-political briefings. The platform also allows other organizations to incorporate additional questions to assess public sentiment.
The latest survey was based on a nationally representative, multi-stage randomized sample of 1,048 Sri Lankan adults from separate households. Fieldwork was conducted from January 24 to February 3, 2026. While the poll was designed with a maximum sampling error margin of ±3.0 percentage points, researchers noted that implementation-related factors could further affect margins of error.
-ENCL
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