MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: nearly half of those polled say the government is falling short of expectations

The same poll put Orsi's approval at 24% and disapproval at 56%, his worst reading since taking office

For 49% of Uruguayans surveyed, Yamandú Orsi's government is performing below the expectations they held at the start of the administration, according to the latest poll by the consultancy Factum, covering the third two-month period of 2026. The study, with fieldwork conducted between June 2 and 20 and released by VTV Noticias, shows a sustained deterioration in perceptions of the government since the beginning of the term.

Among the remaining respondents, 27% consider that the government is performing as they expected and just 1% believe it is exceeding their expectations. Another 22% said they expected nothing from the current administration, and 1% declined to answer.

Comparison with earlier measurements shows the scale of the shift. In the fourth period of 2025, 45% rated the government's performance as equal to or above their expectations, against 30% who placed it below. In the third period of 2026 that relationship reversed: 28% now place it at or above, and nearly half below.

By region, the negative assessment is slightly higher in the country's interior, where 50% consider the government to be falling short of expectations, against 49% in Montevideo. Favorable views, by contrast, are somewhat higher in the capital: 31% of Montevideo residents rate the government as equal to or better than expected, a figure that drops to 25% in the interior.

The most critical age group is the youngest. Among people aged 18 to 33, 50% believe the government is below their expectations and only 18% place it at or above. Those over 62 show the relatively most favorable assessment, with 35% rating the government as equal to or better than expected, though 44% also place it below.

The sharpest differences emerge when 2024 voting is taken into account. Among those who voted for the Frente Amplio, the governing coalition, 52% say the administration is falling short of what they expected, while just 3% say they expected nothing from it.

The expectations measure is not equivalent to an approval rating, as it compares the government's performance with what each person anticipated at the start of the term. On that separate question, the same poll put Orsi's approval at 24% and disapproval at 56%, his worst reading since taking office, with a cumulative drop of 13 points since the first period of the year. The fieldwork coincided with the controversy over the purchase of an official vehicle.