Record share of people ‘thriving’ globally — but North America is an outlier, poll shows

The share of people worldwide who say they are thriving in life reached a record high in 2024, according to the latest Gallup poll.

But, despite the general rise in global well-being, some regions — including North America — remain distinct outliers.

These findings come from Gallup’s most recent Life Evaluation Index, which sampled approximately 1,000 adults in 142 countries.

Respondents were asked to rate their current and future lives on a 0-10 scale, with those scoring seven or higher for the present and eight or higher for the future considered “thriving.” Meanwhile, those scoring four or less for both were labeled “suffering,” and everyone in between was classified as “struggling.”

In 2024, a median of 33% of respondents across the sampled countries classified themselves as thrivi