The United Kingdom has been named the most stressed country in the world and the second most miserable overall, according to the Global Mind Project’s “Mental State of the World” report by Sapien Labs — the largest mental health survey ever conducted.
With a Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) score of just 49, the UK ranked second from the bottom globally, just ahead of Uzbekistan. Even more troubling, 35% of Brits were classed as “distressed or struggling”, the highest level of psychological distress recorded anywhere in the world and more than double the global average of 14%.
That means one in three adults in Britain is facing serious mental health challenges — a rate worse than in many nations grappling with war or political turmoil. Yet Britain is among the richest countries on earth. This disconnect between prosperity and well-being now poses one of the most serious, yet least discussed, threats to the UK economy.
Stress as an Economic Liability
Mental ill-health already costs the UK economy an estimated £117 billion a year, according to the Mental Health Foundation — roughly 5% of GDP. The Global Mind Project findings suggest those costs are only rising. Lost productivity, absenteeism, and staff turnover are now key challenges across every sector, from financial services to frontline care.
The hospitality and night-time economy — employing over 1.3 million people and contributing around £112 billion annually to UK GDP — is among the most exposed. Once seen as the country’s “feel-good industry,” hospitality now finds itself at the sharp edge of the nation’s stress crisis. Workers face long hours, insecure contracts, and the emotional labour of serving others while often struggling themselves. Customers, too, are changing: lower disposable income and rising anxiety are reshaping how people socialise, spend, and seek relief.
When Stress Becomes the New Normal
For small businesses, particularly in hospitality, the impact is deeply personal. Managers report staff burnout, difficulties retaining workers, and an increase in short-notice sick days linked to stress and fatigue. In sectors reliant on energy, optimism, and face-to-face connection, declining morale can hit hard. The traditional “Friday night buzz” that once symbolised release has been replaced for many by a quieter, more subdued social pattern.
Industry data show that footfall across the night-time sector remains well below pre-pandemic levels, and while the cost-of-living crisis explains part of that, the psychological shift is equally real. People are tired. They are cautious about spending, overstimulated by screens, and more likely to stay home. For bars, clubs, and live venues, that translates into a cultural and commercial challenge.
The Human Cost Behind the Numbers
Experts cite a “perfect storm” of pressures fuelling the UK’s stress epidemic: soaring living costs, political distrust, social fragmentation, and the emotional aftershocks of the pandemic. For many workers in hospitality and service industries, these pressures are compounded by low pay, anti-social hours, and limited access to support. Mental-health-related absenteeism and staff turnover are increasing, leaving business owners stretched and customers experiencing poorer service.
This is not only a workforce issue — it’s an economic multiplier. Every missed shift, every closed venue, every fatigued employee translates into lost revenue, reduced productivity, and weakened community life.
From Burnout to Renewal
If stress has become the national currency, then recovery requires re-investment — not only in mental health services, but in business culture itself. Employers are beginning to recognise that mental well-being is not just a social good but a financial necessity. Initiatives like flexible scheduling, mental health first aid, and staff support programmes are helping to stem attrition.
But more needs to be done. Local authorities and business improvement districts are calling for a “well-being recovery plan” for the night-time economy: funding for training, safe-space initiatives, and community-based mental health hubs. Investing in people’s emotional health is increasingly being seen as investing in the very infrastructure of commerce.
Re-Humanising the Economy
The Global Mind Project report is more than a snapshot of distress — it’s a mirror held up to a society that has become economically driven but emotionally depleted. For the UK’s businesses, especially those in hospitality, the message is clear: well-being is productivity.
A mentally healthy workforce serves better, creates better, and stays longer. A mentally healthy public spends more, connects more, and fuels the social fabric on which the service sector depends.
Unless the UK can turn the tide on its mental health decline, it risks not only a human crisis but a slow erosion of one of its most vital industries — the night-time economy that once helped the nation unwind.
Britain’s next great economic recovery may not begin in the markets or the Treasury, but in the minds and hearts of the people keeping its lights on after dark.
