Berlin: They have active romantic lives, plenty of money and lots of friends. But according to a new survey Germans are the most pessimistic nation in Europe, with over-50s convinced their circumstances are getting inexorably worse.

The survey by the firm Emnid compared attitudes among over-50s towards the future in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Poland. It revealed striking regional differences, with the Germans consistently the most negative and the British and the Spanish a lot more cheerful.

Asked about their own economic situation over the next 20 years, nearly two-thirds of Germans thought it would get worse. Britons, however, expected only a small decline.

The survey also showed that Germans enjoy the most energetic sex life, with sex important for 73 per cent among the over-50s. In Britain the figure is 50 per cent. The British also came last when it came to physical exercise. Only 28 per cent of over-50s in the U.K. take part in regular exercise compared with 52 per cent in Germany. In Spain the figure is 47 per cent, and 43 per cent in France.

The survey appears to have surprised nobody in Germany, where cultural pessimism has been a national hobby since the time of Nietzsche. Other gloomy German thinkers have included Schopenhauer and the historian Oswald Spengler, experts noted.

Reporting the study, based on interviews with about 500 people in each country, the best-selling Bild newspaper declared on its front page on Wednesday: "What we always suspected a survey has now confirmed: the Germans are world champions in pessimism."

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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