Press Release: How satisfied are people with their lives in the European Union?

On the occasion of the InternationalDay of Happiness on 20 March 2015, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published a selection of subjective indicators on well-being of people in Europe. These data on subjective evaluations and perceptions in different domains have been collected for the first time in a comparable way in European official statistics.

'Overall, how satisfied are you with your life these days?' people across the European Union (EU) were asked. Life satisfaction represents how a respondent evaluates or appraises his or her life taken as a whole. It has a prominent role as it can be regarded as a key indicator of subjective well-being. On a scale from 0 ('not satisfied at
all') to 10 ('fully satisfied'), nearly 80% of residents aged 16 and over in the EU rated their overall life satisfaction in 2013 at 6 and higher, with an average (mean) satisfaction of 7.1.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: EU survey sees happy Danes, grumpy Bulgarians http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-survey-sees-happy-danes-grumpy-bulgarians/

EurActiv, 19.03.15: Eurostat: 80% of Europeans broadly ‘happy’ with life http://www.euractiv.com/sections/social-europe-jobs/eurostat-80-europeans-broadly-happy-life-313055

EUObserver, 20.03.15: Retired Danes happiest people in Europe https://euobserver.com/news/128069

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