A new study has revealed the countries where Gen Z are the most miserable – and the UK is ninth on the list. 

Researchers from Oxford Scholastica Academy surveyed over 1,400 youngsters from across 100 countries about their hopes for the future. 

The results revealed that people living in Kuwait are the least optimistic about the future, ahead of those in Rwanda, Turkey, France, and Poland. 

In contrast, Sri Lanka is the country where young people are the most optimistic, ahead of Kenya, Nepal, and Kazakhstan. 

'In every aspect of society, there are things to be anxious and pessimistic about,' said Lavinia Abell, Co–Director of Oxford Scholastica Academy.

'This could be the rise in AI, war, the cost–of–living increasing and much more. 

'This will be especially worrisome for young people, facing challenges as they enter the world of work. 

'What this study highlights is the attitudes of each nationality towards these uncertainties.' 

For the study, the team set out to understand how hopeful Gen Z feel about their personal futures, the economy, the environment, politics, and the future of society on a whole. 

A total of 1,433 students from around the world were asked to rate their optimism across these five categories on a scale of 1 to 5. 

The rankings are based on countries with a minimum of five student respondents – covering 41 countries – with the overall scores based on the average across all five categories. 

Overall, Sri Lanka tops the list for Gen Z optimism, with an impressive score of 4.32.

'Sri Lanka leads the study with young people reporting the highest rates of optimism, with the highest environmental optimism score of any country in the study (4.62) and strong personal optimism (4.75),' the researchers explained.

'Despite significant economic turbulence in recent years, Sri Lankan students remain deeply hopeful about the future of their society (4.25).'

Kenya is next on the list (average score of 4.31), ahead of Nepal (average score of 4.24). 

The researchers said: 'Nepal achieves a perfect personal optimism score of 5.00 – the only country to do so and ranked third overall. 

'Nepal also has the highest economic optimism (4.80), suggesting that despite its lower–income status, students feel strongly positive about their individual prospects.'

Meanwhile, among Western nations, Canada ranks highest at sixth (4.08), ahead of the US (3.99).

At the other end of the list, Kuwait has the least optimistic young people of any country surveyed, scoring just 2.92 out of five.

'Kuwaiti students record the lowest political optimism in the entire study at just 1.80 as well as the lowest future–of–society score (2.40),' the researchers said. 

Rwanda is close behind (3.20), ahead of Turkey (3.22), France (3.22) and Poland (3.24). 

The UK ranks 33rd out of the 41 countries, scoring 3.61 overall. 

The researchers explained: 'British students score just 3.04 for political optimism and 3.06 for environmental optimism, placing the UK in the bottom third on both categories.'

The news comes shortly after research revealed the countries where people 'flourish' the most.

Scientists from Harvard University surveyed more than 200,000 people from 22 countries about their health, happiness, meaning, character, relationships, financial security, and spiritual well–being.

Together, these seven variables were defined as 'flourishing' by the researchers.

The results revealed that people living in Indonesia are flourishing the most, followed by Israel, the Philippines, and Mexico.

In contrast, the US ranked 12th on the list, while the UK ranked a dismal 20th out of 22.

According to the researchers, the findings highlight the old adage that money isn't everything.

'Flourishing is multidimensional, and different countries are flourishing in different ways,' the team wrote in their study.

'While many developed nations report comparatively higher levels of financial security and life evaluation, these same nations are not flourishing in other ways, often reporting lower meaning, pro–sociality and relationship quality.'