Who Hurts the Most Around the World?

Pain is something every human knows, but who feels it most turns out to depend a lot on where you live and who you are. Researchers surveyed over 200,000 people in 22 countries, asking a simple question: how much bodily pain have you had in the past four weeks? The answers revealed striking differences.

While pain may be universal, it is not felt equally, varying dramatically with our age, gender, and station in life.

In Egypt, 60% of people reported at least some pain. In Israel, only 25% said the same. Brazil, Australia, and Turkey also ranked high, while Japan, Poland, and South Africa ranked low. Beyond geography, certain groups tended to report more pain across the board.

Older people felt more pain than younger people. Women reported more pain than men. People who were widowed or retired, those with fewer years of schooling, and people who attended religious services more than once a week also reported higher levels of pain. One thing that didn't matter at all: whether someone was born in the country they now live in or had immigrated there. Immigrants and people born in their country reported pain at the same rate.

The researchers are careful to note that these are snapshots, not explanations. For example, people in pain might attend religious services more often because they are seeking comfort — not because services cause pain. Similarly, retired people report more pain, but that may partly be because they tend to be older. Future years of data will help untangle these threads. What this study does is paint the first detailed global picture of who is hurting and where.