DemographicsMar 28, 2024

North America’s Youth Are Alarmingly Unhappy

What we’re showing:

A bar chart with the countries with the biggest gaps in the happiness ranks of young adults (<30) and older adults (60+). A higher number indicates a larger gap; and that the youth are far unhappier than their older counterparts.

The “Kids” Are Not Okay

Generally, young adults (those below 30) tend to be the happiest demographic. Happiness then decreases through middle age and starts increasing around 60. However, the above countries are digressing from the pattern, with the oldest generation much happier than young adults.

In the U.S. and Canada—near the top of this list—media coverage has been raising alarm bells on declining youth mental health for a while. Commenters cite a variety of contributing factors: the rise of social media, the fall in real-world interactions, the pandemic, and the impact of the ongoing climate crisis.

How is “Happiness” Calculated?

The World Happiness Report sources their data from the Gallup World Poll, which asks 1,000 respondents in nearly every country to evaluate their life on a 0–10 scale, with 10 representing the best life they could lead, and 0 the worst. Results are then averaged over three-years, and the final number taken as a “happiness” score. Countries are then ranked by their score first for the entire populace, then by specific demographics.

Dataset

Rank	Country	Youth Happiness Rank	Old Happiness Rank	Gap Between Young & Old Happiness
1	Mauritius	85	28	57
2	U.S.	62	10	52
3	Canada	58	8	50
4	Uzbekistan	71	22	49
5	China	79	30	49
6	Japan	73	36	37
7	Mongolia	86	53	33
8	Algeria	93	62	31
9	Libya	80	50	30
10	Singapore	54	26	28
11	Kazakhstan	69	42	27
12	Philippines	70	43	27
13	Laos	104	77	27
14	Germany	47	21	26
15	Spain	55	29	26
16	Malta	57	31	26
17	Bahrain	77	51	26
18	Kyrgyzstan	81	55	26
19	Mauritania	119	93	26
20	Chad	120	94	26
21	UAE	35	11	24
22	France	48	25	23
23	Brazil	60	37	23
24	Guinea	103	81	22
25	New Zealand	27	6	21
26	Myanmar	122	102	20
27	Venezuela	83	64	19
28	Norway	20	3	17
29	Jamaica	84	68	16
30	Nepal	92	76	16
31	Saudi Arabia	42	27	15
32	Niger	116	101	15
33	Madagascar	124	109	15
34	Sweden	18	4	14
35	Hong Kong	97	84	13
36	UK	32	20	12
37	Burkina Faso	117	105	12
38	Australia	19	9	10
39	Estonia	44	35	9
40	Bolivia	74	65	9
41	Türkiye	101	92	9
42	Liberia	113	104	9
43	Mali	125	116	9
44	Bangladesh	128	120	8
45	Sierra Leone	141	133	8
46	Uruguay	30	24	6
47	India	127	121	6
48	Egypt	130	124	6
49	Yemen	135	129	6
50	Finland	7	2	5
51	Belgium	24	19	5
52	Ireland	21	16	5
53	South Africa	87	82	5
54	Malawi	137	132	5
55	Denmark	5	1	4
56	Thailand	45	41	4
57	Colombia	76	72	4
58	Ivory Coast	100	96	4
59	Kuwait	16	13	3
60	Poland	43	40	3
61	Italy	41	38	3
62	Congo	88	85	3
63	Palestine	102	99	3
64	Tanzania	129	126	3
65	Netherlands	9	7	2
66	Russia	68	66	2
67	Tajikistan	89	87	2
68	Cambodia	112	110	2
69	Zimbabwe	139	137	2
70	DRC	140	139	1
71	Lebanon	142	141	1
72	Guatemala	49	49	0
73	Tunisia	118	118	0
74	Jordan	123	123	0
75	Ethiopia	131	131	0
76	Lesotho	138	138	0
77	Afghanistan	143	143	0
78	Iceland	4	5	-1
79	Switzerland	13	14	-1
80	Cameroon	106	107	-1
81	Togo	126	127	-1
82	Honduras	56	58	-2
83	Gambia	110	112	-2
84	Benin	115	117	-2
85	Eswatini	134	136	-2
86	Austria	12	15	-3
87	Comoros	132	135	-3
88	Vietnam	65	69	-4
89	Greece	53	57	-4
90	Indonesia	75	79	-4
91	Mozambique	94	98	-4
92	Ghana	121	125	-4
93	Iraq	90	95	-5
94	Sri Lanka	123	128	-5
95	Luxembourg	6	12	-6
96	Costa Rica	11	17	-6
97	Cyprus	51	57	-6
98	Zambia	136	142	-6
99	Chile	39	46	-7
100	South Korea	52	59	-7
101	Malaysia	64	71	-7
102	Iran	96	103	-7
103	Botswana	133	140	-7
104	Taiwan Province of China	25	34	-9
105	Namibia	105	114	-9
106	Peru	63	73	-10
107	Kenya	109	119	-10
108	Mexico	22	33	-11
109	Argentina	34	45	-11
110	Senegal	99	111	-12
111	Czechia	10	23	-13
112	Georgia	78	91	-13
113	Azerbaijan	95	108	-13
114	Dominican Republic	61	75	-14
115	Gabon	91	106	-15
116	Morocco	98	113	-15
117	Pakistan	107	122	-15
118	Israel	2	18	-16
119	Kosovo	23	39	-16
120	Armenia	72	88	-16
121	Slovenia	15	32	-17
122	Portugal	46	63	-17
123	Nicaragua	28	47	-19
124	Latvia	31	51	-20
125	Slovakia	38	60	-22
126	Nigeria	108	130	-22
127	Uganda	111	134	-23
128	Ecuador	59	84	-25
129	Panama	26	56	-30
130	North Macedonia	67	98	-31
131	Ukraine	82	115	-33
132	Hungary	36	70	-34
133	Albania	66	100	-34
134	El Salvador	17	52	-35
135	Bosnia & Herzegovina	33	68	-35
136	Romania	8	48	-40
137	Lithuania	1	44	-43
138	Paraguay	37	83	-46
139	Montenegro	50	97	-47
140	Bulgaria	40	90	-50
141	Serbia	3	54	-51
142	Moldova	29	86	-57
143	Croatia	14	80	-66