Life in the UK 2026 Wales
Think tank: Carnegie UK
Author(s): Various authors
November 2, 2026
This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK measures collective wellbeing in Wales in 2026.
This is the latest edition of our Life in the UK – Wales index, and with four years’ worth of data trends from our index we are able to take a slightly longer-term view of how people across Wales are living.
Out of a possible score of 100, Wales’ collective wellbeing in 2026 is 61, similar to 2025. This year also saw no meaningful changes to the social, economic, environmental, or democratic wellbeing of people in Wales. There have, however, been changes underneath the broader domain scores, some positive and some negative. There has been a worrying increase over time in the proportion of people who reported that they had experienced discrimination in the past year, which is 11 percentage points higher than three years ago.
The level of satisfaction with local job opportunities has almost halved in the same period. People do, however, have higher trust in their governments and feel more able to influence the decisions that affect them.
A new government in Cardiff offers the opportunity for renewed and sustained action to put the long-term wellbeing of people in Wales at the heart of policy making. We know that with this kind of strategic governance focus, progress is possible.
