Which are the most populated continents? French knowledge on the world’s population
Published on 19/12/2018.
Questioned about where the majority of the earth’s 7.4 billion people live, a majority of French people correctly identify that the most populous continents are Asia and Africa.
What we learn most from this question is rather from the rates of non-response, which range from 11% (for center-voters) and 35% (those without qualifications).
Indeed, it would seem that the most influential factor for an “I don’t know” answer is the respondent’s level of education, correlated also with their level of income.
The most typical profile for a correct answer to this question is therefore an educated man over 50, earning between 50000€ and 99999€ a year, who is concerned about poverty or a center-voter.
On the other hand, the profile most likely to answer incorrectly would be a woman under 25, voting for right-wing candidates, without qualifications, earning less than 19999€ a year and not at all concerned about global poverty.
This data comes from our survey conducted by the YouGov Institute and piloted by the research team at University College London and the University of Birmingham as part of the project Aid Attitudes Tracker which measures the evolution of opinions and behaviors on issues of international solidarity in four countries.
