Recent studies have shown that global happiness levels have decreased compared to 15 years ago. However, there are two regions where happiness has increased: Europe and East Asia. In particular, countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovenia have seen significant improvements in happiness. Former Soviet countries and those in East Asia have also shown considerable progress in life evaluations.
On the other hand, countries like Lesotho, Lebanon, and Afghanistan ranked at the bottom of the list in terms of happiness levels. Analysts have found that happiness is often linked to factors such as GDP per capita, social benefits, personal freedom, lack of loneliness, and good life expectancy. The research also found that there is a 20 percent increase in happiness inequality between older generations and younger generations worldwide. Generally, older generations such as boomers tend to be happier than millennials and Gen Z members.
In addition to these findings, the happiness gender gap remains persistent with women generally reporting more negative emotions than men across all regions analyzed in the study. Denis Leven is hosted at POLITICO as part of the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.
It’s important to note that while some regions may be experiencing an increase in overall happiness levels, it doesn’t mean that everyone within those countries is happy. Factors such as poverty, discrimination, political instability can still contribute to lower levels of well-being among certain groups.
Furthermore, it’s worth considering how these trends might differ across different age groups or income brackets within each region. It would be interesting to see how these factors interact with each other and how they shape overall happiness levels within each country.
In conclusion, while global trends show a decrease in overall happiness levels compared to 15 years ago
