Last year was a tough year for many countries—but in Afghanistan and Lebanon, things were so bad that the countries displaced Iraq at the top of the list of countries with the worst emotional health. Gallup says the two countries topped its "composite measure of people's daily experiences of sadness, stress, worry, anger, and physical pain." With higher scores reflecting higher levels of unhappiness, Afghanistan scored 59 and Lebanon scored 58.
Gallup says that as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, the proportion of people feeling worried hit 80%, the highest it has ever been recorded in any country, with 74% reporting feeling stressed and 61% feeling sad. In Lebanon—which topped Gallup's list of angriest countries—the economy's meltdown and chronic political instability led to 74% of people feeling stressed. The unhappiest countries and their scores:
- Afghanistan, 59.
- Lebanon, 58.
- Iraq, 51.
- Sierra Leone, 50.
- Jordan, 48.
- Turkey, 46.
- Bangladesh, 45.
- Ecuador, 45.
- Guinea, 45.
- Benin, 44.
(These are the
happiest countries, according to the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report.)