Self-reported life satisfaction in South Sudan
South Sudan: Self-reported life satisfaction was 2.82 in 2019. ▼ Falling
Self-reported life satisfaction in South Sudan, 2015–2019
Source: Wellbeing Research Centre (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2019, self-reported life satisfaction in South Sudan stood at 2.82. That is the lowest value across all 5 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.3% on the previous year and down 26.5% over five years.
South Sudan ranks 156th of 157 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
Self-reported life satisfaction in South Sudan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3.83 | — |
| 2016 | 3.59 | -6.3% |
| 2017 | 3.25 | -9.4% |
| 2018 | 2.85 | -12.3% |
| 2019 | 2.82 | -1.3% |
South Sudan compared with similar countries
- South Sudan's 2.82 is below the median for low income countries, which is 4.06, 69% of the median. (22 countries reporting)
- South Sudan's 2.82 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 4.38, 64% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Countries ranked near South Sudan
- 153 Malawi 3.28 compare
- 154 Rwanda 3.27 compare
- 155 Sierra Leone 3.25 compare
- 157 Afghanistan 1.45 compare
More social development data for South Sudan
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 601,818 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2.39 million (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.1958 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2.39 million (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0494 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2015)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-reported life satisfaction in South Sudan?
- Self-reported life satisfaction in South Sudan was 2.82 in 2019, according to Wellbeing Research Centre (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest self-reported life satisfaction recorded in South Sudan?
- The highest recorded value was 3.83 in 2015.
- What is the lowest self-reported life satisfaction recorded in South Sudan?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.82 in 2019.
- How does South Sudan rank for self-reported life satisfaction?
- South Sudan ranks 156th out of 157 countries with data for 2019.
- Where does this South Sudan data come from?
- The figures come from Wellbeing Research Centre (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Self-reported life satisfaction. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average of survey responses. The survey question asks respondents their current position on a hypothetical ladder, where the best possible life for them is a 10, and the worst possible life is a 0.