In 2024, global employee engagement dropped from 23% to 21%, marking only the second time in 12 years this has happened. While this data reflects a global pattern, it hits especially close to home in Africa, where workplace stress levels are among the highest in the world.
- Business Insider Africa presents the top 10 African countries with the highest workplace stress in 2025.
- The list is courtesy of Gallup.
- After years of improvement, life satisfaction among workers globally fell to just 33% over the last two years.
Work hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park lately. From endless emails to burnt-out bosses and the pressure to always be “on,” it’s no surprise that more people are feeling stressed, disengaged, and downright exhausted on the job
In 2024, global employee engagement dropped from 23% to 21%, marking only the second time in 12 years this has happened, the first being during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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While this data reflects a global pattern, it hits especially close to home in Africa, where workplace stress levels are among the highest in the world.
According to Gallup, employee engagement and life evaluations, how workers feel about their lives in and outside of work, have been on a downward spiral.
After years of improvement, life satisfaction among workers globally fell to just 33% over the last two years. The implications for Africa are significant. In many of the continent’s fastest-growing economies, high levels of daily stress are becoming a silent productivity killer.
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Gallup estimates that last year’s dip in global engagement cost the world economy $438 billion in lost productivity. For Africa, where GDP growth is already threatened by inflation, debt stress, and political instability, this kind of productivity loss is unaffordable.
And yet, if leaders act decisively, the opportunity is immense. A fully engaged global workforce could add $9.6 trillion in productivity, equivalent to 9% of global GDP.
Below are the top 10 African countries with the highest workplace stress in 2025:
| Rank | Country | Change | % Yes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liberia | 1 | 64 |
| 2 | Sierra Leone | 6 | 61 |
| 3 | Rwanda | * | 59 |
| 4 | Madagascar | 0 | 58 |
| 5 | Ghana | 2 | 58 |
| 6 | Nigeria | 3 | 57 |
| 7 | Uganda | -1 | 57 |
| 8 | Chad | -2 | 54 |
| 9 | Tanzania | ** | 54 |
| 10 | Senegal | 3 | 49 |
