It turns out from the World Happiness Report 2018 that Hungarians do find the touch of grey in every silver lining. But which nation is the happiest, seeing the glass always half-full? Portfolio.hu’s report explores which countries are ahead and behind Hungary’s 69th place in the list.
Which nations are the happiest?
How can happiness even be examined? One might ask the question, referring to the subjectivity and personal dimensions of happiness. Although there is some vagueness in the measurements, the Gallup World Poll questionnaire has shown consistent results since 2005. Their World Happiness Report, the latest statistics have been available since 2012.
Their latest report covering the period 2015-2017 reveals that the nations that are most satisfied with themselves and can be considered the happiest remained Finland, Norwegia and Denmark.
In overall, countries with the best results bear some similarities: high average income, high average life expectancy, strong social support, greater freedom, social safety and confidence and generosity. According to experts, these are the factors and indicators that more or less define the results. Here you can find the list of the happiest countries from 1-52.
Source: World Happiness Report 2018Why are Hungarians feeling so blue?
We have already written about Hungary’s own Happiness Map. But where are we on the list in global terms?
Hungary takes the not-so-elegant 69th place, considering that countries such as Moldova (67th), Kosovo (66th), and even Kazakhstan (60th) are ahead of us in their satisfaction with life.
In 2017, Hungary was at the 75th place on the list. Although our views regarding happiness have changed for the better since the 2008-2010 period, we are still in between nations such as Lybia and Turkmenistan, not to mention our neighbours, who are evidently happier than us. Romania is at the 52nd place, while Poland (42th), Slovakia (39th) and the Czech Republic (21th) take even more elegant positions.