According to opinion poll survey results released Monday, the majority of Portuguese citizens (96%) perceive the economic situation in their country to be “bad” against the European Union average of 67% for the 27 member states.

The opinion poll was carried out by Eurobarometer, between June 4 and 19, after the EU/IMF bailout package took effect but prior to the Government austerity measures and budget cuts announcements.

According to the poll, almost three-quarters (71%) of respondents thought the situation will get worse with just 5% believing it will improve over the next year and 20% predicting no change. For Europe as a whole, those figures stood at 36%, 20% and 40% respectively.

Regarding the outlook for employment, 95% of Portuguese called the situation “bad” compared to 73% in the Eurozone. Only 4% Portuguese nationals were optimistic about the employment outlook compared to 24% in the Eurozone.

About the economic outlook for the near future, 69% of Portuguese respondents said it was going to get worse next year (EU 33%), while 5% said it will get better (EU 21%) and 22% saying there will be no change (EU 41%).

Of those surveyed in Portugal, 95% were critical of the cost of living (EU 73%) while only 5% admitting to having a good quality of life (EU 26%).

The Portuguese also expressed dissatisfaction with their national social security support system with 88% being dissatisfied with their pension system (EU 53%) and 10% being satisfied (EU 39%). Also, 76% of Portuguese respondents were unhappy with their unemployment benefit system compared to 48% across the Eurozone.