Keypoints:
- Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya lead global youth rankings
- 41 percent of young adults worldwide face serious challenges
- Early smartphone use and diet flagged as major risks
YOUNG adults in sub-Saharan Africa have ranked highest globally for overall mind health, even as new research warns that nearly half of the world’s young population is facing significant mental health challenges.
The findings are contained in the 2025 Global Mind Health report released by Sapien Labs, a Washington DC-based non-profit specialising in neuroscience, psychology and computational science. The study draws on survey data from almost one million internet-enabled adults across 84 countries.
Ghana leads, Africa dominates top five
According to Sapien Labs, Ghana ranked first worldwide for youth mind health, followed by Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania — making the top five entirely African.
The report assesses what it terms a Mind Health Quotient (MHQ), measuring emotional regulation, cognitive functioning, social connectedness and physical wellbeing — capacities required to navigate daily life and employment effectively.
In contrast, many higher-income nations — including the United States, Canada, parts of Europe, Japan and Australia — ranked near the bottom for young adult outcomes.
Researchers found that 41 percent of young adults aged 18 to 34 globally are experiencing mental health difficulties of clinical significance, meaning symptoms are severe enough to disrupt daily functioning.
A generational reversal
The data show a dramatic reversal over the past two decades. In the early 2000s, young adults recorded the strongest wellbeing of any age group. Today, they are four times more likely than adults over 55 to face significant mental health challenges.
“This mind health crisis appears to be a progressive slide from generation to generation and goes far beyond rising rates of depression and anxiety,’ said Tara Thiagarajan, founder and chief scientist at Sapien Labs and lead author of the report.
She noted that challenges reported by young adults include emotional instability, difficulty sustaining focus and strain in managing relationships.
The generational gap began widening before 2020 and expanded sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. While older adults experienced relatively modest declines, young adults saw substantial deterioration. Over the past five years, the divide has remained largely unchanged.
Wealth and wellbeing diverge
One of the report’s most striking conclusions is the apparent inverse relationship between national wealth and youth mind health.
Young adults in sub-Saharan Africa scored higher across several protective factors, including spirituality, close family bonds and later adoption of smartphones during childhood.
Tanzania ranked highest globally on measures of spirituality and recorded one of the oldest average ages for first smartphone use, despite moving from first place overall last year to fifth this year. Kenya and Nigeria also demonstrated strong or improving scores compared with previous editions.
By contrast, countries with widespread early smartphone exposure and high consumption of ultra-processed foods recorded significantly lower youth mind health outcomes.
Four drivers of decline
Sapien Labs identified four primary contributors linked to worsening youth mental health worldwide:
Early smartphone adoption during childhood
Increased consumption of ultra-processed foods
Weakening family bonds
Declining spirituality
Each factor, the researchers argue, correlates with reduced resilience and diminished capacity to manage life’s pressures.
David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College, said the findings carry economic as well as social implications.
“When almost half of young adults globally — the heart of the workforce — are struggling with an array of mental health challenges, that signals a crisis that can undermine entire economies and societies,’ he said.
Policy solutions proposed
Despite increased spending on mental health services in Western countries, Thiagarajan said treatment-focused responses alone are not reversing the trend.
“We need to stop chasing the symptoms and begin tackling the broader problems that erode the productivity and well-being of young adults around the world,’ she said.
The report calls for policy measures including limits on smartphone use during school hours, minimum age requirements for social media access and expanded research into food additives commonly found in ultra-processed products to support stronger regulation.
Although sub-Saharan Africa topped the rankings, researchers caution that even in the region, internet-enabled youth still score lower than older generations.
The broader message, they conclude, is that youth mental health is declining across continents. Yet Africa’s comparatively strong performance suggests that social cohesion, moderated digital exposure and sustained cultural and spiritual frameworks may offer valuable lessons for policymakers confronting a global youth mind health crisis.
