ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

People around the world are experiencing record high levels of anger, worry and sadness, a study has found.

The Global Emotions Report, compiled by analytics firm Gallup, revealed that “negative experiences” are on the rise, having hit their highest level since records began.

More than a third of people said they had experienced a lot of worry (39 per cent) or stress (35 per cent) the day before, and at least one in five had felt sadness (24 per cent) or anger (22 per cent).

Thirty-one per cent of people also claimed to have suffered “a lot of physical pain”.

The study was carried out in 2018 and involved more than 151,000 interviews with adults across 140 countries.

“This report gives global thinkers an idea of who is living the best and worst lives in the world,” wrote Gallup’s global managing partner Jon Clifton.

Participants were asked questions to gauge their balance of positive and negative daily experiences, including: “Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?” and “Did you experience anger during a lot of the day yesterday?”

Chad in north-central Africa was named “the most negative country in the world”, with Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Iraq following close behind.

Meanwhile, Latin American countries were dubbed the leaders in positive experiences, with Paraguay and Panama topping the index.

The UK did not feature in the published results, although other European countries did.

Poland, Estonia and Sweden were among the countries to report the lowest levels of negative experiences.

Explaining the relevance of the Global Emotions Report, Mr Clifton wrote: “Global happiness studies often involve two measures – how people see their lives and how they live their lives.

“Both concepts are rooted in behavioral economics. How people reflect on their life is very different from how people live their life.

“For example, if you interview two women, one with a child and one without a child — which one has more stress? On average it’s the woman with the child. But if you asked them to rate their overall lives — which one is higher? It’s also the woman with the child.

“So, the woman with more stress also rates her life higher. This is exactly why we need to measure both life satisfaction and emotions.”