The Human Index
← Rankings

The 10 most stressed countries in 2026

Composite stress score across 25 tracked countries.

  1. 1

    South Africa

    composite stress score
    53.7
    Elevated
  2. 2

    Turkey

    composite stress score
    50.7
    Elevated
  3. 3

    Argentina

    composite stress score
    46.2
    Elevated
  4. 4

    South Korea

    composite stress score
    43.6
    Moderate
  5. 5

    United States

    composite stress score
    43.1
    Moderate
  6. 6

    Brazil

    composite stress score
    41.0
    Moderate
  7. 7

    UAE

    composite stress score
    40.1
    Moderate
  8. 8

    France

    composite stress score
    39.2
    Moderate
  9. 9

    Mexico

    composite stress score
    39.1
    Moderate
  10. 10

    Italy

    composite stress score
    39.0
    Moderate

What this measures

Composite stress is a weighted average across economic, social, mental, technological and environmental indicators. Higher score = more population-level pressure.

Other rankings

The pipeline re-checks every 12 hours; underlying sources publish on their own cadence. Every number traces back to its source on the country page.

MethodologyTransparency