According to a new study, Austria has taken the top spot, while German citizens are much less happy than before. Austria, Poland and Romania are the three happiest countries in the EU, writes Euronews, quoted by Rador Radio Romania.

The names of the happiest and least happy countries of the European Union have become known – and the results may surprise you. Austria, Poland and Romania are the three happiest countries in the EU.

At the other end of the ranking, Germany is officially second to last, followed only by Bulgaria. In fact, Bulgaria was the only country among the 27 countries analyzed to have an overall score of less than six out of ten (ten being the best possible score) for overall life satisfaction in 2022.

Every year, Eurostat, the EU bloc’s official statistical agency, measures life satisfaction using a sample of each country’s population. This scale goes from zero – absolute dissatisfaction – to ten, which defines the best situation. It also asks how optimistic respondents are about the future, or, depending on the circumstances, how pessimistic.

Although one might assume that the richer the country, the happier the people, in general this is not the case. Although Germany has one of the strongest economies among the 27 countries, its happiness scores are appalling. In 2021, the country had a score of 7.1. The latest figures show it has fallen to 6.5.

While the statistics cannot explain why people are so much less happy than last year, they do point to an increasingly gloomy collective mood in Germany. Another German body, the Rheingold Institute in Cologne, uses surveys mixed with in-depth interviews. In a study published last week, they found that 20% of people were “overwhelmed with anxiety” and another 9% were classified as “disinterested and withdrawn”.

Germany has suffered from economic stagnation, turmoil over the war in Ukraine, unprecedented growth in immigration and a relatively unpopular government.

Why are the happiest nations happy?

This is not the first time that Austria tops the ranking. The level of happiness of Austrians reaches an average of 8 points. Austria is a rich country, so this estimate may surprise you. However, in Romania and Poland, two poorer nations, life satisfaction is at the top of the rankings, suggesting that more money does not necessarily mean more happiness.

Instead, it appears that factors such as age, education level, marital and financial status may be greater predictors of overall satisfaction than wealth. Despite the well-known struggles of Millennials and Generation Z, most Member States showed that 16-29 year olds are more satisfied with life than the over 65s.

The opposite trend was observed only in Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Finland. Financial security shows up in the data to some extent, though perhaps not in the way you expect. Life satisfaction seems to depend largely on education level, which to some extent reflects income level.

In all member states, life satisfaction has increased in parallel with the level of education. Slovakia was the country where this was most important, with a difference of 1.6 points between those with higher education and those with primary education. Where you live also matters, although the findings are much more mixed.

In Malta, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Luxembourg, rural residents said they were slightly happier, by 0.2 points or more.

However, in Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Slovakia, Portugal, Hungary, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany and Slovenia, city dwellers said they were more satisfied with life. Households with children are the happiest, while single-person households are the least happy. This is specific to Europe, as studies on other continents have shown the opposite.

This is a trend that Europe may follow in the near future. Between 2018 and 2022, life satisfaction fell the most, by -0.3 points, in households with dependent children. When it comes to sex, there is very little difference. Men were slightly less happy than women between 2018 and 2022, but both sexes still have an EU average of 7.1 points.

Geographic trends?

Research shows that there is a fairly significant gap between different parts of the EU. In general, people in the North and in many parts of the Western bloc tend to be more satisfied with their lives than people in the Baltic countries.

Those living near the Mediterranean and in the eastern parts of the EU were mostly unhappier. However, not everything is cloudless. Those countries with generally lower levels of life satisfaction saw little growth between 2018 and 2022, and vice versa in these typically “happy” countries.

As with most studies of this type, the results are not an exact science.

Measured subjectively, focusing on the overall cognitive evaluation of one’s life and eudaemonia – or the sense that life has meaning – the evaluation will always be variable. So, while Germany and Bulgaria might think the results mean life for their citizens will be bleaker as they plunge into winter, that may not be the case, as the results of the 2023 study won’t be available until next year.

Photo source: Viorel Dudau | Dreamstime.com