worry, stress and anger have increased worldwide over the past 10 years, according to an international report published recently.
Almost four in 10 adults surveyed said they had felt 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 five percentage points higher than in 2014.
Physical pain (32%) increased by two percentage points compared to the previous year. Sadness (26%) and anger (22%) showed no change year-on-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 was presented at the World Health Summit in Berlin recently, a gathering of thousands of politicians, economists, business and civil service representatives to improve well-being for all.
Athough 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. – dpa
