Stress levels among the world’s business leaders have risen dramatically, a survey has found.
Taiwan is top of the stress table for the second year running, with 90% of respondents feeling more pressured, said business advisers Grant Thornton.
Globally, 57% of all business owners reported higher stress levels, compared with 39% in 2004. And just 6% of the 7,000 businessmen and women questioned said that their stress levels had decreased.
The most chilled-out country was Sweden, where only 24% of business people felt more more stressed, followed by Italy, Spain and France.
Grant Thornton said that “without a doubt” the least stressed business people over the past year were in Europe and the US, although their stress levels also dramatically increased.
In Holland and the UK, 43% of business leaders felt more stressed, just below the 45% level found in the US.
The findings also show a direct link between stress and the amount of holiday taken by executives around the world.
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Most business leaders in East Asia suffered from a high stress increase in 2005, possibly as a result of their poor holiday allowance.
