Worry, stress and anger have increased worldwide over the past 10 years, according to an international report published on Monday.
Almost four in 10 adults surveyed reported feeling a lot of worry or severe stress the day before.
The “State of the World’s Emotional Health 2025” survey was conducted by the Gallup Institute among people aged 15 and older in 144 countries and regions.
In 2024, 39% of adults worldwide reported having had many worries the previous day, while 37% reported stress. This included a particularly high number of people in countries affected by conflict.
Although worries decreased slightly on average worldwide in 2024, returning to pre-pandemic levels, they remain 5 percentage points higher than in 2014.
Physical pain increased by 32% compared to the previous year. Sadness 26% and anger 22% showed no change year-over-year. However, all values for negative feelings are higher than they were a decade ago.
Globally, women reported more sadness, worry and physical pain than men.
The study is to be presented at the World Health Summit in Berlin on Monday, a gathering of thousands of politicians, economists, business and civil service representatives to improve wellbeing for all.
Although the global rise in dissatisfaction over the past decade is well documented, many leaders overlook it due to a reliance on economic indicators as opposed to emotional health, according to the authors.
This oversight is significant, the report argues, because negative emotions narrow people’s attention and reduce resilience. They could also make societies more vulnerable to instability.
However, positive feelings remained widespread, despite the stresses reported.
Almost nine out of 10 people, or 88%, said they had been treated with respect the previous day, three percentage points more than in 2023.
Other positive aspects remained stable, with 73% of adults reporting laughing or smiling a lot and just as many feeling joy.
Some 52% said they had learnt something new or done something interesting the previous day – slightly below the 2023 figure, but still above the 2014 level.
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