Denmark Residents Happiest In Europe

Individuals living in Denmark are the happiest in Europe, while those living in Portugal are the least happy according a recent study

London, UK (Pryce Warner International) January 5th, 2012 – Researchers at Cambridge University have conducted a Europe wide study to find which country is best for resident's happiness.

The study questioned 43 000 people across 23 countries and found notable geographical happiness disparities, as well as the fact that nowhere in Europe did the majority of the people in a country describe themselves as happy.

Denmark scored the highest results, though with a relatively meagre 41% of people describing themselves as “happy”. Switzerland came second with 31%, with Austria, Finland and Norway not far behind with 28%, 27% and 26% respectively.

Southern and Eastern European countries reported the lowest levels of happiness with only 9% of people in Portugal and Russia describing themselves as happy. Results were not much higher in Slovakia, Bulgaria and Ukraine, which all scored in the low teens.

The study was carried out in 2006-2007, before the Global Financial Crisis and the recent Eurozone debt crisis, which makes it probable that Europeans are even unhappier at the present time.

Happiness was determined by questioning peoples feelings in key areas, including competence, optimism and self-esteem. These results superficially confirmed certain national characteristics, with Germany, Austria and Sweden ranked highest for competence, while Russia scored lowest on optimism.

Several countries reported varied and seemingly contradictory results. For example France had the highest levels of engagement but the lowest of self-esteem and optimism. In Spain the reverse was true, self-esteem was very high but competency and vitality were exceptionally low.

The study concluded that governments need a more wide-ranging approach to gauging public happiness than simply measuring the current state of GDP. This should include identifying the specific components of well-being and then assessing which of these could benefit the most from specific policy intervention.

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By Aneil Fatania
Financial Editor
Pryce Warner International Group
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