Britons, Germans, Americans more likely to say they’re mentally healthy than physically healthy

Data from YouGov Profiles shows that, in Britain, Germany, and the US, people are most likely to say they’re mentally healthy (44% GB; 53% US; 67% Germany). Physical fitness always lags behind – though to varying extents. In Britain, for example, the difference is reasonably small (44% mental; 43% physical), while in the US it’s a wider gap (53% vs. 46%) and in Germany it’s a gulf of 15 percentage points (67% vs. 52%).

Emotional health is a slightly different story, which may partially highlight the gap between how people perceive their mental and emotional states. In every market, people are more likely to say they’re mentally healthy than emotionally healthy – and in Germany, the gulf is 12 percentage points (GB: 44% vs. 39%; US 53% vs. 48%; Germany 67% vs. 55%).

Social wellbeing is – with the exception of Germany – the area where people are least likely to say they’re in good shape. Just 36% of Britons and two in five Americans (41%) say they have good social health, compared to three in five Germans (58%).

Britons are also least likely to say they’re in good shape: a fifth (21%) say they do not consider themselves healthy at all, compared to 16% of Americans and just 12% of Germans.

Methodology

YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.

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