Unhappiest areas of UK revealed

Survey finds happiness and mental well-being at lowest levels since Covid in 2020.

The Health, Wealth and Happiness Index has recorded the lowest levels of happiness since the record lows of 2020, as the Covid pandemic hit the UK.

Areas with the worst results are seen in London, where more than a third said they felt less cheerful.

The South West of the UK came in second with 27 per cent, with the South East and Yorkshire and Humberside tied for third unhappiest place in the UK with both areas recording 26 per cent of people saying they felt less cheerful.

Nina Skero, who works for the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which produced the research, said: “We expect pressures to persist in the coming year, especially in terms of inflation and spending power.

“Nevertheless, the outlook is somewhat rosier than was the case at the turn of the year, with consumers showing considerable resilience in the face of troublesome economic conditions. 

“This provides some hope that the depths of 2022/23 will not be repeated and that the Index’s components can return to improvement.”

In 2022 a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). revealed Colchester in Essex as the unhappiest area to live in the UK.

Conversely, according to the ONS survey Torridge, in north Devon, was the UK’s ‘happiest’ area, followed by Pendle in Lancashire and Lichfield in Staffordshire.