Graphic Truth: What Is China So Unhappy About?

Over the past 20 years, hundreds of millions of people in China have been pulled out of poverty by their country's staggering economic growth. Beijing today is a rising power on the global stage. That's all pretty great, and yet the country still ranks beneath war-torn Libya and perpetually melancholy Russia in the United Nations World Happiness Report. This week's Economist hazards a guess about what really makes people smile or scowl, but here's how China stacks up for joy against other countries.

More from GZERO Media

Five years ago, Microsoft set bold 2030 sustainability goals: to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste—all while protecting ecosystems. That commitment remains—but the world has changed, technology has evolved, and the urgency of the climate crisis has only grown. This summer, Microsoft launched the 2025 Environmental Sustainability Report, offering a comprehensive look at the journey so far, and how Microsoft plans to accelerate progress. You can read the report here.

Punjab, Pakistan - Photos show flood-hit areas in Punjab, Pakistan, on August 26, 2025. Pakistan has evacuated tens of thousands of people to safer areas after neighboring India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions, officials said Tuesday.

150,000: Pakistan has evacuated at least 150,000 people from areas around three rivers of the Punjab province. Flooding risks are driving the evacuations, as monsoon rains continue to batter large portions of South Asia.

Graph of new college graduate unemployment compared to the national average, with new graduate unemployment surpassing the national average for the first time in 2022, when ChatGPT was released and the AI revolution began.
Eileen Zhang

You can’t step outside these days without hearing someone talking about AI’s impending slaughter of white-collar jobs.

- YouTube

The world is shifting from an “Age of Impunity” to an “Age of Cruelty,” says David Miliband on GZERO World, where power is exercised without accountability, human rights are ignored, and civilians increasingly suffer the consequences.

- YouTube

America’s retreat from global aid is leaving a massive funding gap that no other country is stepping in to fill, leaving the world’s poorest to pay the price, warns IRC president & CEO David Miliband on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer.

College graduate unemployment rate.
Eileen Zhang

“Pain and agony and suffering,” wrote Sam Angel, about his job hunt. He recently graduated with a masters in Cold War military history from Columbia University in New York, having decided to go right into a masters program after finishing undergrad.