Countries Experiencing the Most Positive Emotions
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Globally, the degree to which people feel positive emotions has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
But there is significant variation in how common these emotions are between countries and areas. For instance, people’s perceptions of their living standards, personal freedoms, and the presence of social networks can all influence their experiences.
In this graphic, we use data from Gallup’s Global Emotions 2024 report to explore the countries where people report having positive experiences most often.
The Countries Topping the Ranking
To determine how common positive emotions were within a country, Gallup asked people whether they felt well-rested, treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting, or felt enjoyment during the previous day.
Country-level scores range from zero to 100, with 100 indicating the highest possible level of positive experiences. The overall world score was 71.
| Country | Score (Max is 100) |
|---|---|
| 🇵🇾 Paraguay | 86 |
| 🇵🇦 Panama | 86 |
| 🇬🇹 Guatemala | 85 |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | 84 |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 84 |
| 🇸🇻 El Salvador | 83 |
| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | 83 |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 82 |
| 🇸🇳 Senegal | 82 |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | 82 |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | 82 |
Countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia dominate the list of the places where people experience a lot of positive experiences. Senegal was the only African country that made it to the top 10, likely due in part to being one of the most stable countries on the continent.
Measuring Positive Emotions
Interestingly, the countries that top the Global Emotions report for positive emotions differ from the happiest countries according to the World Happiness Report. The latter is dominated by Nordic countries like Finland and Denmark, and the differences come down to what is being measured.
While the World Happiness report measures people’s overall life satisfaction on a scale from 1-10, the Global Emotions report measures whether people had specific positive experiences the prior day. Latin American and Southeast Asian countries may top this list because these regions highly value community. Social connections could make it more likely for people to have the positive experiences the survey measured, like feeling respected or smiling and laughing a lot.
More Emotion Facts From Visual Capitalist
If you enjoyed this article check out Mapped: Countries With the Highest Negative Emotions to see which countries experience a lot of physical pain, worry, sadness, stress, and anger.
