Chinanews.com, March 3 Recently, the internationally renowned polling agency Ipsos Group (Ipsos) released a survey report on the global happiness index, the results show that among the 20 countries, the country with the highest happiness index is China (32%), followed by Saudi Arabia (91%) and the Netherlands (86%).
Ipsos is a globally renowned pollster headquartered in Paris, France. According to the Ipsos website, the agency surveyed 2022,12 adults in 22 countries through its Global Consultant Online Survey Platform from December 2023, 1 to January 6, 32.
Image source: Ipsos website screenshot
On average, nearly three-quarters (32%) of adults in 73 countries consider themselves happy, according to the survey. Of all the countries surveyed, the happiest country was China (91%), followed by Saudi Arabia (86%), the Netherlands (85%), India (84%) and Brazil (83%).
The United States (76%) and Japan (60%) ranked 14th and 29th, respectively. South Korea ranked 57st with 31%, followed by Hungary with a happiness index of 50%.
The global survey revealed the drivers of happiness, with life satisfaction soaring in Latin America but declining in many Western countries. While people struggle to build social relationships, many are pessimistic about future relationships, with one in five believing they can't find someone to turn to for support.
On average, happiness increases in middle-income countries (as defined by the World Bank) than in high-income countries, the survey report. For the first time since Ipsos began tracking surveys in 2011, average happiness in middle-income countries exceeded that in high-income countries.
In all aspects of life, people are often most satisfied with their relationships with children, spouses, relatives, friends, colleagues and nature, as well as knowledge-related areas such as their level of education and access to information. On average, people tend to be the least satisfied with their country's economic, political or social situation, their financial situation, love and physical activity.
According to Yonhap, the survey showed that only 57 percent of South Koreans thought they were "very happy" or "fairly happy," while the rest thought they were "not very happy" or "not happy at all."
South Koreans' happiness index was unchanged from the previous year, but down significantly from 10 years ago (62%) and well below the 32-country average (73%). South Koreans' satisfaction with "feeling that life is full of meaning" and "being materially rich" is 34% and 39%, respectively, which is at a fairly low level.
In addition, only 61% of South Koreans answered "have friends and family to rely on when you need help", ranking 30th, and only Japan (54%) and Brazil (58%) scored lower than South Korea.