Finland was ranked the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report from 2024. The Nordic country scored 7.74 on a scale from 0 to 10. Two other Nordic countries, Denmark and Iceland, followed in second and third place, respectively. The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. Criticism The index has received criticism from different perspectives. Some argue that it is impossible to measure general happiness in a country. Others argue that the index places too much emphasis on material well-being as well as freedom from oppression. As a result, the Happy Planet Index was introduced, which takes life expectancy, experienced well-being, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint into account. Here, Costa Rica was ranked as the happiest country in the world. Afghanistan is the least happy country Nevertheless, most people agree that high levels of poverty, lack of access to food and water, as well as a prevalence of conflict are factors hindering public happiness. Hence, it comes as no surprise that Afghanistan was ranked as the least happy country in the world in 2024. The South Asian country is ridden by poverty and undernourishment, and topped the Global Terrorism Index in 2023.

According to the UN's World Happiness Report, China's happiness index ranged at 5.97 points in 2024. China ranked 60th out of 143 countries. Finland, Denmark, and other European countries held the top spots in the ranking, while Afghanistan stayed at the bottom of the list. What is the happiness index? The happiness index is based on a Cantril ladder survey which is carried out annually worldwide by the polling company Gallup. Nationally representative samples of respondents are asked to value the quality of their lives at the survey moment on a 0 to 10 scale, with the worst possible life as zero and the best possible life as ten. The first World Happiness Report was published in 2012, and since then, governments are increasingly using its insights to orient public policies towards happiness. Surge in happiness in China In 2024, the happiness index in China was the highest since the beginning of the survey series. The growth in the sense of happiness has been consistent over the years except for a short period of 2018-2019. As happiness is hard to quantify, the reasons behind the dip in the curve during that time can only be hypothesized. The happiness index of 5.19 points in 2019, which was in the lower 50 percentile, did not seem to correlate with any of the usual suspects: the GDP growth, pollution levels, corruption or the perception of it, or even income inequality. The possible factors that could have affected people’s happiness were unemployment, insufficient social safety net, and several political issues. However, the country saw a surge in the sense of happiness from 2021 onwards. Successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic that gave a greater feeling of security, fast economic recovery, and increase in the national pride could have been a few of the reasons behind the recent rising optimism in China.

Using micro-data on six surveys–the Gallup World Poll 2005–2023, the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1993–2022, Eurobarometer 1991–2022, the UK Covid Social Survey Panel, 2020–2022, the European Social Survey 2002–2020 and the IPSOS Happiness Survey 2018–2023 –we show individuals’ reports of subjective wellbeing in Europe declined in the Great Recession of 2008/9 and during the Covid pandemic of 2020–2021 on most measures. They also declined in four countries bordering Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022. However, the movements are not large and are not apparent everywhere. We also used data from the European Commission’s Business and Consumer Surveys on people’s expectations of life in general, their financial situation and the economic and employment situation in the country. All of these dropped markedly in the Great Recession and during Covid, but bounced back quickly, as did firms’ expectations of the economy and the labor market. Neither the annual data from the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) nor data used in the World Happiness Report from the Gallup World Poll shifted much in response to negative shocks. The HDI has been rising in the last decade reflecting overall improvements in economic and social wellbeing, captured in part by real earnings growth, although it fell slightly after 2020 as life expectancy dipped. This secular improvement is mirrored in life satisfaction which has been rising in the last decade. However, so too have negative affect in Europe and despair in the United States.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Happy population distribution across 18 age groups. It lists the population in each age group along with the percentage population relative of the total population for Happy. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of Happy by age. For example, using this dataset, we can identify the largest age group in Happy.

Key observations

The largest age group in Happy, TX was for the group of age 10-14 years with a population of 109 (16.85%), according to the 2021 American Community Survey. At the same time, the smallest age group in Happy, TX was the 75-79 years with a population of 1 (0.15%). Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 5-Year Estimates.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021 5-Year Estimates.

Age groups:

• Under 5 years
• 5 to 9 years
• 10 to 14 years
• 15 to 19 years
• 20 to 24 years
• 25 to 29 years
• 30 to 34 years
• 35 to 39 years
• 40 to 44 years
• 45 to 49 years
• 50 to 54 years
• 55 to 59 years
• 60 to 64 years
• 65 to 69 years
• 70 to 74 years
• 75 to 79 years
• 80 to 84 years
• 85 years and over

Variables / Data Columns

• Age Group: This column displays the age group in consideration
• Population: The population for the specific age group in the Happy is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the population of each age group as a proportion of Happy total population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Happy Population by Age. You can refer the same here

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