Wellbeing and Mental Health

2020 was a record year for feeling stressed at work

a businessman sits at his desk behind a computer

Workers' daily stress reached a record high in 2020, according to the Global Workplace 2021 Report. Image: REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS)

Martin Armstrong
Data Journalist, Statista
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Wellbeing and Mental Health?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Future of Work is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Future of Work

  • Workers' daily stress reached a record high in 2020, according to the Global Workplace 2021 Report.
  • 43% of respondents in over 100 countries claimed to have experienced stress, up from 38% in 2019.
  • Border closures, workplace closures and job cuts are believed to be the cause.
  • According to the report, workers in the US and Canada recorded the highest levels of daily stress globally at 57%.
  • In Western Europe, stress decreased to 39%, from 46% in 2019.

Worry, stress, anger and sadness among employees worldwide have been on the rise over the past decade, reaching record levels in 2020. This is according to a survey for the 'State of the Global Workplace 2021 Report' conducted by Gallup in 116 countries.

The report highlights that due to "global border closures, workplace closures and job cuts, workers' daily stress reached a record high" last year. Specifically, 43% of respondents in more than 100 countries claimed to have experienced stress for much of the previous day, while this percentage was 38% in 2019.

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about mental health?

a chart showing the increase in worker stress
Daily stress reached a record high in 2020. Image: Statista
Have you read?

Although stress globally reached record highs in 2020, not all regions of the world experienced the same levels. According to Gallup, workers in the United States and Canada recorded the highest levels of daily stress globally (57%), while in Western Europe, stress decreased to 39%, from 46% in 2019.

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Wellbeing and Mental HealthJobs and the Future of Work
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

World Mental Health Day: How leaders can prioritize well-being in the workplace

Kate Whiting

October 4, 2024

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum