This map from the Gallup Organization shows the well-being levels of the nations of the world.
Gallup collected the data through from interviews and telephone surveys with individuals across 155 nations between 2005 and 2009. It distinguishes three categories of well-being – suffering (low levels), struggling (medium levels), and thriving (high levels).
More than half of Americans (57 percent) report they are thriving, while 40 percent say they are “struggling,” and three percent report they are “suffering.”
The highest levels of “thriving” are found in Northern European, Scandinavian, and Nordic countries – Denmark (82 percent), Finland (75 percent), Norway (69 percent), Sweden (68 percent), and the Netherlands (68 percent).
Relatively high levels of “thriving” are also found in Australia (62 percent), New Zealand (63 percent), Canada (62 percent), Israel (62 percent), Switzerland (62 percent), and Costa Rica (63 percent).
High levels of “suffering” and “struggling” are found in many African nations, in Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, in Asian nations like Cambodia, Laos, and Mongolia, and in Bulgaria, Latvia, and Albania, as well as Haiti.
China fares poorly on this index of well-being,despite its tremendous rate of economic growth and rise as the “world’s factory.” Just nine percent of Chinese respondents report they are “thriving,” while 77 say they are “struggling,” and 14 percent report they are “suffering.”
The Gallup study finds a “clear well-being divide between the wealthier countries of northern, western, and central Europe and some poorer countries within eastern and southern Europe.”
Stay tuned for more on this early next week.
March 29th, 2010 at 2:45 am
Notice the lighter green country next to Afghanistan and Iran. It is Turkmenistan: average annual income: $2840 – less than any country in Europe, including Moldova.
Does this prove that “lack of money does not buy unhappiness” ?
March 31st, 2010 at 10:34 am
Hi Richard,
I checked the Gallup report to find out about their sample, and it says this:
“Results are based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted between 2005 and 2009 in 155 countries”
I infer from this that they interviewed on average a little more than 5 people per country. Could interviews with 5 people really tell us something about the happiness of 300 million people in the US ?