a total of 52% say security has improved over the last year, up 16% on March 2008

* only 8% say it is worse - against 26% last year
* 59% feel safe in their neighbourhoods, up 22% from 37% last time. [...]

Those who say their lives are going very well or quite well are now 65% of the total, up 9%. And there is a 14% increase - to 60% - of those who think things will be better in Iraq as a whole in a year from now.

The survey shows that some aspects of everyday life are improving, too.

The availability of power has been a major issue in the past six years, with only about 10% of the population saying in previous polls that they have had reliable supplies. In the latest poll, that figure has leapt to 37%.