Most EU citizens seem quite happy with their lives. But life satisfaction is decreasing in some of the countries with the highest scores like Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.
EU citizens are generally satisfied with their lives, as the level of satisfaction of people who are 16 or above is 7.3 out of 10 on average, according to Eurostat data.
So, which countries are the happiest in the EU?
Finland ranks first with 7.8, followed by Belgium, Austria, Romania and Slovenia, all at 7.7.
What about those with the lowest scores?
Bulgarians seem to be the most unhappy citizens. With a 5.9 score, they’re on the bottom end of the life satisfaction spectrum.
Denmark (from 8.0 to 7.5) and Sweden (from 7.9 to 7.5) have had the highest decreases in satisfaction levels over the past decade.
On the contrary, the countries that saw the most significant increases in life satisfaction are Cyprus (from 6.2 to 7.5), Bulgaria (from 4.8 to 5.9), Estonia (from 6.5 to 7.2), Slovenia (from 7.0 to 7.7), and Greece (from 6.2 to 6.9).
In this poll, people were asked to simply rate their life satisfaction from 0 to 10.
The EU is working on a more complex definition of happiness, which extends beyond the usual GDP scores.
More recently, the Commission identified “8+1” criteria to define the quality of life: Material living conditions, quantity and quality of employment, health, education, leisure and social interactions, economic and physical safety, governance and basic rights, living environment and, lastly, the overall experience of life.
