South Africa may have topped a global “overthinkers” list but the encouraging takeaway is that the world is becoming more aware of mental health, more open about stress and more intentional about the everyday habits that protect our peace.
South Africa (10 January 2026) – South Africans have been called a lot of things over the years… resilient, loud, funny, passionate, determined… and (depending on where you live) either the friendliest people on earth or the angriest people on WhatsApp.
But a new international survey has apparently crowned South Africa as the world’s biggest overthinkers.
My first thought was, Ja no. And my second thought was, wait… maybe.
If you’ve ever lay awake at 2am replaying a conversation from five years ago, wondering if your tone in a voice note sounded “too sharp”, or doing mental maths on petrol, groceries and debit orders like you’re trying to crack the Da Vinci Code, then you’re probably reading this thinking… okay Brent, they might not be completely wrong.
But before we run with a headline like that and slap it onto a story as if it’s gospel truth, we have to take these sorts of studies with a proper pinch of salt. We get a lot of press releases throughout the year from companies and brands wanting to be in the news, and this one came from MoneySuperMarket. The UK’s “most recommended price comparison website” (according to their website), which is basically like our ‘Hippo’. Now I’m not saying the survey is nonsense and I’m not saying it’s wrong… I’m just saying South Africans have learnt the hard way not to accept everything at face value, and our natural default setting is to question, analyse and double-check before we commit to anything, even if it’s just a conversation on the internet.
The survey sounds big… until you do the maths
MoneySuperMarket says they surveyed 3,868 people across 20 countries, which sounds pretty big at first glance.
It has that “global study” energy that makes a press release sound official and important. But when you break it down, if those participants were evenly distributed, that works out to only about 193 people per country. And while 193 opinions can definitely be useful, it’s also not quite enough for us to confidently declare that an entire nation is collectively lying awake at night stressing about what could go wrong next Tuesday, or worrying about whether we’re doing enough, being enough, earning enough, saving enough and surviving enough.
So before blindly publishing the story, we decided to do what we do best, a little reality check, just for ourselves. We ran a poll on Twitter (X… whatever we’re calling it these days) asking South Africans whether we see ourselves as overthinkers, and the answer came back pretty much in line with the survey, which is both validating and mildly terrifying.
I need your help South Africa.
The explanation is in the tweet below:
— Brent Lindeque (@BrentLindeque) January 9, 2026
So, are we really the world champs of overthinking?
According to the survey, yes.
South Africa allegedly tops their Global Overthinking Index, with 79% of South Africans saying they overthink often or very often.
That puts us ahead of:
Poland (71%)
Greece (70%)
Mexico (68%)
Portugal (67%)
Even Germany, apparently the least overthinking nation, still had 54% of people admitting they overthink, which tells us the real story isn’t “South Africa is the worst”, but rather that the whole world is stressed and nobody is coping perfectly.
The number that really hits isn’t the percentage, it’s the time. Globally, people spend an average of 89 minutes a day overthinking, which is already a lot when you realise that adds up to more than 10 hours a week. But South Africa tops that too, with people spending 135 minutes a day overthinking… over 2 hours daily, which is basically the length of a movie. Imagine burning that much energy every day on “what ifs” and worst-case scenarios, and then still being expected to function like a normal person at work?!?
And when it comes to what’s driving all this mental spinning? It’s exactly what you think.
The biggest cause of overthinking around the world is money, with 62% of people listing finances as their top trigger. In South Africa, it’s even higher. 81% say money and finances are what they worry about most. That’s cost of living, job pressure, unexpected expenses, medical bills, school fees (and stationery lists), fuel prices and that constant feeling of trying to keep everything together while the numbers do backflips.
Photo Credit: MoneySuperMarket
The worrying doesn’t stop when the day ends either… it follows us into the night. Globally, people lose nearly 28 minutes of sleep every night because their minds won’t switch off. South Africa tops the list again, losing 42 minutes of sleep each night to racing thoughts. That’s hours of rest stolen every month, and when sleep disappears, everything gets harder: mood, focus, health, relationships and even the ability to cope with stress in the first place.
But here’s what I loved about the study… and the part that actually turns this story into something hopeful.
The world isn’t just overthinking; the world is also fighting back, and the ways people manage worry are surprisingly simple and very human. The most common coping methods are exercise, entertainment, spending time outdoors and talking to friends and family. South Africa’s top method is entertainment, which is so on-brand it almost makes me proud. We cope with memes, series, music, laughter, storytelling, sport, and our Saffa humour that somehow survives even when everything feels heavy. We find ways to switch off, even if only for a moment, and those moments matter.
So yes… maybe we are the world’s biggest overthinkers. But I also think that says something else about us: we care deeply, we carry a lot and we try hard to make life work. Overthinking is often just your brain trying to protect you, trying to plan ahead or trying to keep you safe. It’s just not always helpful and it can leave you exhausted. The real win isn’t pretending we don’t worry… it’s learning how to soften it, knowing support exists and remembering that we’re allowed to put the weight down sometimes.
If you take one thing from this survey, let it be this: you’re not crazy, you’re not “too sensitive”, and you’re not failing at life because your brain won’t switch off. Overthinking is what happens when people who care are trying to cope in a world that’s heavy, uncertain and relentless.
And maybe the good thing here is that awareness gives us power… to reach out, to breathe, to move, to talk, to ask for help when we need it and to build routines that protect our wellbeing.
Go do something today to stop overthinking and protect your wellbeing.
Source: MoneySuperMarket
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