Last year was the worst ever for people across the globe, according to Gallup’s annual Global Emotions report.

Gallup gauged stress levels in 143 countries around the world as part of its 2019 Global Emotions Report. They asked survey respondents questions about how they felt the day prior, such as whether they smiled or laughed a lot, and whether they felt sadness or anger.

The survey revealed that the number of people who said they’d experienced anger increased by two percentage points over the previous year, while both worry and sadness increased by one percentage point — setting new record highs for all three negative emotions.

More than one in three people said they experienced a lot of worry (39 percent) or stress (35 percent), and three in 10 experienced a lot of

physical pain (31 percent). At least one in five experienced sadness (24 percent) or anger (22 percent).

In the most recent 12 months dominated by war, political crises and humanitarian emergencies around the globe, Chad, a landlocked country in north-central Africa, took the unwelcome honor of being the world's most negative country.

As per the survey, in 2018, more than seven in 10 Chadians (72 percent) said

they struggled to afford food at some point in the past year.

The only other countries in the world with index scores of 50 or higher were neighbouring Niger and the more distant Sierra Leone.

In India, 22 percent respondents said they were stressed, 33 percent were sad while 27 percent were angry.

Latin Americans smile like 'like no one else'

Latin American countries dominated the list of countries in 2018 where adults reported feeling a lot of positive emotions each day.

"Latin Americans may not always rate their lives the best (like the Nordic countries), but they laugh, smile and experience enjoyment like no one else in the world," Jon Clifton, global managing partner at Gallup, said in a report.

Their high scores "at least partly reflect the cultural tendency in the region to focus on life's positives," Clifton added.

The single country outside this region that made the most positive list was Indonesia, which has appeared in the top group since 2017.

Scandinavian countries usually top lists of the world's happiest countries, with four -- Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland -- coming out in front this year in the United Nations' World Happiness Report. Gallup's interview-led approach, however, has repeatedly found higher levels of fulfilment in Latin America.

First Published:May 2, 2019 1:40 PM IST