Semrush, a leading online visibility management SaaS platform, today launched its “2023 Annual Global Issues Index,” the first-of-its-kind study designed to inspire organizations driving change in society.
The Index, co-authored by Columbia Professor Jeremy Kagan, reveals the most searched societal issues based on average monthly Google searches between January 2019 and June 2023, and how they rank across 35 countries.
The study lists the Top 10 issues in each country, as well as a global aggregate ranking, from a group of 24 core issues including racism, gun control, sustainability, pollution, unemployment, mental health, the war on drugs and more.
Andrew Warden, CMO of Semrush Said :
Key findings from the report include:
- This year, the top 5 most pressing societal issues based on search across the world include Mental Health (1), War on Drugs (2), Sustainability (3), Public Health (4), Pollution (5).
- In the US, the top 5 most searched social issues in 2023 are Unemployment (1), Mental Health (2), War on Drugs (3), Public Health (4), and Sustainability (5).
- In Europe, online interest in Energy, Pollution, Sustainability, and War on Drugs grew significantly over the past three years.
- In the Oceania region, online interest in Mental Health this year was highest, followed by Public Health. Concerns about the War on Drugs and Sustainability have been growing steadily since 2021.
- In the Middle East, online interest in Education, College Debt and Mental Health grew strongest over the past three years.
- In Africa, Pollution and Sustainability are the highest rank social issues this year, while in Asia, Mental Health and the War on Drugs rose to the top.
Jeremy Kagan, Columbia University Professor said :
The Annual Global Issues Index was prepare using the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool which collected 157,000+ keywords, phrases and queries related to each of the 24 core issues, to discover the average monthly search volume for each.
The total counts were then list from highest to lowest in each of the 35 countries analyzed, to reveal a Top 10 list in each country, across the last five years.
The Organic Research tool was then use to identify 3 of the most visited CSR initiatives (by subdomain) being led by businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or government agencies as a direct response to the Top 10 most searched social issues in 2023.
Semrush and Jeremy Kagan plan to co-author this study every September, with the intent to look back at the past five years.
To learn more about the most important societal issues of today, the organizations driving the most change and what areas we as a society can improve in, you can download the full report here.