Among the happiest countries in the world, Portugal maintains a half smile | Well-being

The increase in unhappiness among younger people has caused the United States and some large Western European countries to fall in a global well-being index, while the Nordic countries maintain their dominance over the top spots. This March 20th marks the International Day of Happiness.

The Annual World Happiness Report, launched in 2012 to support the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, is based on data from US market research firm Gallup, analyzed by a global team now led by the University of Oxford.

People from 143 countries and territories are asked to rate their lives on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 representing the best possible life. Results from the past three years are averaged to create a ranking.

Finland continues to occupy first place — with an average score of 7.7 —, closely followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, while Afghanistan and Lebanon occupy the last two places, with scores of 1.7 and 2. 7, respectively. Portugal has the same smile as last year: among 143 countries, it is in 55th place.

In general terms, the ratings are loosely correlated with the prosperity of countries, but other factors, such as life expectancy, social ties, personal freedom and corruption, also appear to influence individuals’ evaluations.

According to the report, the United States dropped out of the top 20 for the first timemoving from 15th place last year to 23rd, due to a large drop in the feeling of well-being of Americans under 30.

While a global ranking of the happiness of people aged 60 and over would place the United States in 10th place, assessments of the lives of people under 30 place the country in 62nd place.

The results are in contradiction with much of the previous research on well-being, which concluded that happiness is highest in childhood and early adolescence, before falling to its lowest level in middle age and then rising in later life. of the reform.

“Young people, especially in North America, are currently experiencing a life crisis,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics at the University of Oxford and one of the report’s editors.

You Millennials and younger age groups in North America are significantly more likely to report loneliness than older age groups.

However, De Neve says it is likely that a number of factors are decreasing young people’s happiness, including increased polarization around social issues, the negative aspects of social media and economic inequality, which makes it more difficult for young people to buy their own home than in the past.

Although the phenomenon is most pronounced in the United States, the age gap in well-being is also large in Canada and Japan and, to an increasing degree, in France, Germany and Great Britain, which lost ground in this year’s rankings. .

By contrast, many of the countries recording the most significant improvements in well-being are the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In this country, unlike what happens in richer countries, young people report a significantly better quality of life than their elders, often equal to or better than in Western Europe.

“Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania are breaking into the top 20 and that is entirely due to their youth,” concluded De Neve.