WASHINGTON, D.C. -- If you thought 2024 was a tough year, buckle up for 2025.
The “say no to the status quo” year of elections is over. Voters in more than 60 countries, including 10 of the world’s most populous nations, went to the polls. The results were often disastrous for incumbent parties; if they didn’t lose outright, like in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, they won with less support than expected. The challenge for the winners, now, will be to govern.
Far from over are the conflicts that raged throughout 2024. Although the fall of the Assad regime in December brought an abrupt end to Syria’s long civil war, there are still more active conflicts now than at any point since World War II. The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire is holding for now -- and Israel and Hamas may be inching toward one -- but peace prospects for Ukraine and Russia are dim.
Through it all, Gallup continues to ask people around the world important questions about their lives as we gather global statistics on how humanity feels.
As Gallup gets ready to start its 20th year of surveying the world, we look back at the biggest global discoveries from 2024 with an eye toward what’s in store for 2025.
- And the Happiest Country in the World Is … Not the United States. For the first time in the World Happiness Report’s 12-year history, the U.S. didn’t earn a spot among the top 20 happiest countries in the world. It’s No. 23 -- down from a 15th-place finish the previous year.
Next in 2025: Find out where the U.S. ranks now when Gallup and its research partners at the University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the World Happiness Report's editorial board publish their next report on March 20. The theme for the 2025 report will be “caring and sharing.” - Global Safety Starts to Slip: Gallup’s latest annual update on global safety revealed people worldwide feel safer today than they did a decade ago, but there are signs that this progress is in jeopardy. Raising people’s trust in their local police and their satisfaction with their local communities may be key to reversing this trend.
Next in 2025: Although countries like El Salvador made the “most safe” list for the first time in 2024, Latin America still ranks as the “least safe” region in the world. Find out if this is still true and how safe the rest of the world feels with Gallup’s next Global Safety Report. - Who Trusts Elections? Bulgarians don’t. Before they went to the polls in 2024, only 10% of Bulgarians trusted the honesty of their elections -- the lowest rate in the world. The lack of trust in elections was a theme for voters in Pakistan and South Africa, and even though confidence was up in Mexico, just 44% of Mexicans expressed faith in their elections. But ahead of the world’s biggest election, in India, seven in 10 adults expressed confidence, earning it a spot in the top 20 countries globally.
Next in 2025: Gallup will continue to track people’s confidence in their elections and measure their attitudes on the issues that likely influence their choices about who leads them. Germany and Canada will be in the spotlight in 2025 as their voters head to the polls. - Desire to Migrate Remains at Record High: Gallup’s latest global migration data show people’s desire to leave their country remains higher than it was a decade ago. This is true in almost every part of the world, from traditionally migrant-sending regions like sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America to migrant-receiving regions like the U.S. and Canada.
Next in 2025: Just under one in five potential migrants (18%) -- or about 170 million adults worldwide -- named the U.S. as their desired future residence. However, this figure remains down from where it was in all years leading up to 2017. Find out if the U.S. is still the most attractive destination when Gallup updates these figures in 2025. - China vs. the U.S.: The U.S. is currently beating China in the competition for leadership approval in much of the world. But a Gallup analysis shows this approval can depend a great deal on who is in power.
Next in 2025: Based on relative net approval scores, the U.S. enjoyed an advantage in 81 out of 133 countries that Gallup surveyed in 2023, while China had an advantage in 52. Find out whether the U.S. held on to its leadership approval advantage in 2024. - Ukrainians Seek a Quick End to the War: Ukrainians’ attitudes toward the war shifted in late 2024. For the first time, a slim majority of Ukrainian adults (52%) said they would like to see their country negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible. Nearly four in 10 Ukrainians (38%) believed their country should keep fighting until victory.
Next in 2025: With their hopes for quick accession to NATO and the EU fading as the war drags on, Gallup will continue to survey Ukrainians about what they think their future holds. - Dim Outlook for Peace in the Middle East: Few people in Israel or the West Bank and East Jerusalem think peace will ever be reached in the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine. Two-thirds of people living in Israel (66%) and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (68%) think a permanent peace will never be achieved.
Next in 2025: With Hamas and Israel getting closer to a possible ceasefire, Gallup plans to return to the region next year and find out what Palestinians and Israelis see in their future. - Americans’ Harsh Judgment of Their Courts: Americans’ confidence in their nation’s judicial system and courts dropped to a record-low 35% in 2024. The result further sets the U.S. apart from other wealthy nations, where a majority, on average, still expresses trust in an institution that relies largely on the public’s confidence to protect its authority and independence.
Next in 2025: Gallup will track whether attitudes change when Donald Trump returns to the White House. But if confidence in the courts remains jaded, it could undermine the public’s faith in the legitimacy of important legal cases and decisions.
Read more 2024 findings from Gallup's surveys in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.
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For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details.
