SPAIN and the UK are officially two of the most stressed countries in Europe.
Indeed, a life in Germany or Iceland would have you sleeping better at night, according to a recent survey Eachnight.com.
Serbia was found to be the country where you’re most likely to be pulling your hair out, with a “Stress Score” of 77.83.
Close behind were Latvia, Portugal and Greece – with Spain coming in fifth, scoring 74.
Three categories were studied, examining stress relating to finance, work and personal life.
Serbia topped the list after scoring high for money-related stress – based on factors such as poverty rate, average rent on a small city-centre apartment and transportation costs.
Additionally, unemployment rates, average salaries, annual leave, and commute times all scored poorly.
Latvia was listed high due to personal stress factors – such as divorce rate, depression cases, childcare costs, and crime levels.
Although not considered as stressful as a country to live in as Spain, the UK ranked high due to high average rent costs and high transportation costs.
| Most stressed | Country | Financial stress ranking |
Work stress ranking |
Personal stress ranking |
Stress Score |
| 1 | Serbia | 1 | 2 | 9 | 77.83 |
| 2 | Latvia | 2 | 3 | 6 | 77.58 |
| 3 | Portugal | 4 | 8 | 3 | 77.13 |
| 4 | Greece | 6 | 19 | 1 | 74.00 |
| 5 | Spain | 8 | 9 | 4 | 74.00 |
| 6 | Italy | 13 | 13 | 2 | 73.35 |
| 7 | Lithuania | 10 | 15 | 5 | 71.11 |
| 8 | Bulgaria | 7 | 4 | 18 | 71.09 |
| 9 | Albania | 11 | 5 | 14 | 70.88 |
| 10 | United Kingdom | 3 | 22 | 7 | 70.64 |
In contrast, Iceland ranks as the least stressed country in Europe with a ‘Stress Score’ of 47.41.
It has the shortest average commute time in Europe at just 15 minutes, along with the lowest poverty rate in Europe of 9%, making Iceland the least stressful European country to live in.
Germany features as the second-least stressed country, performing well when it comes to low levels of work-related stress factors.
The study revealed that German citizens have one of the highest monthly salaries in Europe with an average of €3,031, in addition to the fourth highest employment rate, with 75.6% of the population employed, giving Germany a total Stress Score of 49.54.
| Least stressed | Country | Financial stress ranking | Work stress ranking | Personal stress ranking | Stress Score |
| 1 | Iceland | 28 | 33 | 29 | 47.41 |
| 2 | Germany | 21 | 23 | 33 | 49.54 |
| 3 | Norway | 25 | 29 | 30 | 50.69 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 32 | 32 | 23 | 52.04 |
| 5 | Sweden | 14 | 25 | 31 | 54.91 |
| 6 | France | 30 | 26 | 20 | 56.19 |
| 7 | Luxembourg | 26 | 31 | 24 | 56.19 |
| 8 | Austria | 24 | 24 | 27 | 57.22 |
| 9 | Romania | 16 | 7 | 32 | 59.15 |
| 10 | Finland | 27 | 27 | 12 | 59.57 |
Jasmin Lee of Eachnight.com said: “The past two years have provided a constant source of uncertainty for many due to Covid-19, so it’s no surprise to see that stress levels across Europe are so high.”
“This list highlights that all around the continent people live in varying situations regarding their lifestyles, wealth and livelihoods, yet clearly some countries are more likely to result in their residents having sleepless nights due to stress.”
Eachnight is dedicated to providing the information people need to get better sleep each night, providing a full-circle approach to sleep and wellness that incorporates mental, physical, and environmental well-being.
Sources:
- Numbeo, Expatistan, Eurostat, World Population Review, OECD, Trading Economics, IMF, The World Bank, ReuK ters.
- *UK counted as single sovereign country, data only available as a collective for the United Kingdom.
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