How Africa’s youth beat the West on mind health despite global slump

Global leaders meet in Johannesburg, South Africa for the G20 leaders' summit

A worker raises the South African flag in Sandton on the morning of the first day of the G20 Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 22, 2025. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

Source: REUTERS

Young adults in several African countries are recording the strongest “mind health” scores in the world, even as a new international report warns that youth wellbeing is declining across much of the internet-enabled world.

The Global Mind Health in 2025 report by Sapien Labs says 41% of internet-enabled young adults aged 18–34 are now in a “mind health crisis”, meaning their challenges are serious enough to impair day-to-day functioning. But the report’s country rankings show a sharp regional split.

Ghana tops the list for youth mind health, followed by Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, while several high-income countries rank near the bottom.

Sapien Labs measures mind health using the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ), a composite score that reflects emotional, cognitive, social and physical functioning, the capacities people rely on to manage life, work and relationships.

Researchers link the global decline to factors including early smartphone exposure, ultra-processed food consumption, weakening family bonds and reduced spirituality. They say parts of sub-Saharan Africa score better on some of these indicators, including later smartphone adoption and stronger spiritual and family connections.

Tanzania, for example, ranks highly on spirituality measures and reports a later average age of first smartphone use.

This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.

Portia Etornam Kornu [email protected]