Gallup, in collaboration with the World Health Summit, released its report on the state of global emotional health for 2026. This is the second annual version of the study, which for the first time analyzes the relationship between social media use and people's emotional state, as well as how they rate their lives. The study covered 97 countries. The authors concluded that the overall link is modest and not unequivocal. Gallup reports that the most favorable well-being results were recorded among those who spend between 30 minutes and two hours daily on social media.
To conduct the 2026 study, Gallup added two new questions to its World Poll. Respondents were asked whether they had used any form of social media in the last seven days. Those who answered affirmatively were then asked about the average time they spent on it daily. These answers were compared with well-being indicators that the company has been tracking globally for two decades. Participants indicated whether they experienced five positive and five negative emotions during most of the previous day, and also rated their life on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst possible life and 10 is the best.
The average showed that 81% of people used social media in the last seven days. However, penetration varies widely: from 98% in Bahrain and Lebanon to 12% in Chad. Kyrgyzstan, at 95%, and Kazakhstan, at 92%, are among the top ten countries and regions with the highest usage. This list also includes the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Ukraine, Denmark, Singapore, Estonia, and North Cyprus. Uzbekistan was also included in the survey. Nine out of ten countries with the lowest usage are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Besides Chad, these include Ethiopia, Malawi, Togo, the Republic of Congo, Guinea, Uganda, Zambia, and Benin. Afghanistan, at 15%, also belongs to this group.
The greatest differences in social media use are driven by age and education level. Among people aged 15 to 29, 95% use social media, compared to 91% in the 30–49 age group and 60% among those over 50. Usage increases from 54% among people with primary education or less to 86% among those with secondary or some post-secondary education, and up to 94% among college graduates. Men and women are about equally inclined to use social media.
Usage also differs depending on health status and social support. People who do not report health problems use social media more often than those who do—87% versus 60%. Among those who have someone they can rely on for help, 81% use social media, compared to 71% of those who do not have such a person.
Almost two-thirds of users (65%) spend less than two hours a day on social media, while 35% spend two hours or more. Young people spend significantly more time online. Fifty-two% of users aged 15 to 29 report two hours or more per day, compared to 33% in the 30–49 age group and 23% aged 50 and over. Nineteen% of young users, 11% of middle-aged users, and 6% of older users report five hours or more per day. This means young users report this level of use three times more often than older users. Across all countries, the median is 12% of users who spend five or more hours per day. About three in ten users do this in South Africa, the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and Lesotho, compared to 5% or less in Germany, Poland, and Ethiopia.
At first glance, social media users appear significantly better off than inactive users. They report pleasure more often (75% versus 61%), report sadness (20% versus 33%) and loneliness (17% versus 29%) less frequently. Users average a life rating of 6.1 compared to 4.9 for inactive users. However, the authors note that social media users are generally younger and better educated. They also more often have someone they can rely on and report fewer health problems. These same factors influence how people feel.
When accounting for these differences, the picture changes substantially. After adjusting for country, age, gender, education, income, internet usage, employment status, health, and social support, the gaps narrow significantly but do not disappear entirely. Users remain slightly more likely to report pleasure, smiling, or laughter, respectful treatment, and receiving interesting information. The difference ranges from 1.9 to 3.2 percentage points. Users also rate their lives slightly higher.
Among negative emotions, only stress shows a statistically significant difference: after adjustment, users report it 2.5 percentage points more often. Anger, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, and physical pain show no significant differences.
Time spent on social media tells a more complex story. Gallup divided respondents into three groups. Low use includes people who do not use social media or spend less than 30 minutes a day. Moderate use ranges from 30 minutes to less than two hours, and high use is two hours or more. Moderate use is the most common, accounting for 39% of adults. Low use accounts for 31%, and high use for 27%. Among people aged 15 to 29, 47% belong to the high-use group, compared to 28% in the 30–49 age group and 12% among those over 50. Low use shows an inverse trend: it rises from 10% among youth to 22% in the middle-age group and 54% among older people.
Compared to moderate users, those who spend two hours or more daily on social media report anger, loneliness, sadness, stress, and anxiety more often. They also report less often being treated respectfully but more often feeling well-rested. Life ratings between these two groups do not differ significantly. People in the low-use group rate their lives lower. They report less pleasure, smiling, or laughter, good rest, and respectful treatment, and report anger slightly more often.
In the authors' view, well-being does not continuously decline as the time spent on social media increases. When screen time is analyzed as a continuous measure, it shows no significant link with positive emotions, life satisfaction, or among adults in general, nor among youth.
The relationship also depends on age. In all three age groups, high use is associated with more anger and sadness. Among people aged 15 to 29, it is also linked to more stress and less knowledge gained. For those aged 30–49, high use is associated with more loneliness and less respect, and for those aged 50 and over—with greater loneliness.
Country income level plays a noticeable role. In high-income countries, high social media use is associated with a lower life rating. A similar difference is not observed in non-high-income countries. For example, in the United States, high-use users rate their lives approximately 0.3 points lower than moderate users. A similar pattern is seen among young Americans. No significant difference was found between the two groups in Germany and the UK. The association with anger, loneliness, and sadness appears in both high-income and other countries.
Differences are particularly noticeable at the country level. In 16 countries, there is a moderately strong negative correlation between social media use and youth life satisfaction. These include the United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, and the Netherlands. In 71 countries, this correlation is small. In 10 countries, including Mexico, Poland, and Ireland, it is moderately large and positive.
Gallup separately examined data from ten countries where restrictions on children's social media use have been introduced or are under consideration. These countries include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the United States, such efforts are made at the state level. According to the report, nearly 40 countries are discussing, proposing, adopting, or implementing age restrictions. Social media use in these ten countries ranges from 74% in Indonesia to 88% in the United States. Moderate use is the most common pattern in most of them. Brazil stands out as 40% of adults belonging to the high-use group, compared to 15% in Slovenia and 17% in Germany. The authors emphasize that their data describes the general adult population and does not evaluate the restrictions themselves or the impact of social media on young children.
The study also found a link to trust in government. After adjusting for other factors, social media users express less confidence in their national government than inactive users. Trust is lower among high-use users than among moderate users, and higher among low-use users.
The report also shows that negative emotions remain elevated worldwide. In 2025, 38% of people reported anxiety, 36% reported stress, 33% reported physical pain, 26% reported sadness, and 23% reported anger. These figures have barely changed compared to 2024. They have decreased compared to the peaks recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, but remain significantly higher than levels measured two decades ago. Since 2006, physical pain has increased by 10 percentage points, anxiety and sadness by eight points each, stress by seven points, and anger by four points.
Positive emotions proved more resilient. Since 2006, the proportion of people reporting pleasure has decreased from 75% to 70%. The proportions of those who felt well-rested and who smiled or laughed remained virtually unchanged, while respectful treatment became slightly more common. The proportion of people who say they learned or did something interesting increased by 10 percentage points, from 44% to 54%.
A separate section is dedicated to Afghanistan, where Gallup conducted its survey for the first time in three years. Anxiety was reported by 62% of Afghans compared to 67% in 2023. Stress was reported by 56%, sadness by 44%, physical pain by 38%, and anger by 28%. Aside from a five-percentage-point decrease in anxiety, none of these indicators changed significantly.
Positive emotions remain scarce. Only one in four Afghans reported pleasure or smiling and laughing the day before. Eighteen percent said they learned something interesting, 37% felt well-rested, and 67% said they were treated respectfully. Afghanistan ranks at the bottom for positive emotions among the countries Gallup surveyed in 2026.
In the report's preface, World Health Summit CEO Karsten Schicker noted that 'the relationship between social media use and well-being is not uniform.' He emphasized that it varies depending on countries and populations and depends on factors such as age, health, social support, and people's broader life circumstances.
The authors stress that the study is observational. It identifies associations but does not establish causation. Gallup did not measure which platforms people use, what they do online, or what content they encounter, nor whether their use is problematic or compulsive. In most countries, about 1,000 people aged 15 and older were surveyed by phone or in person. After the completion of data collection for 2026, the dataset will expand to almost 140 countries.
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