Happiest people in the world

London-based market research company GfK NOP (Growth from Knowledge NOP), part of the GfK Group, one of the top four market research organizations worldwide, has conducted a comprehensive survey that reveals who the happiest people in the world are.

According to a press release of the annual GfK NOP, Roper Reports Worldwide survey conducted in-depth personal interviews with 30,000 people age 13 and older, across more than 30 countries in five continents between December 2004 and February 2005. The data was weighted to the sampled population in each country.

The survey concluded that the top five happiest groups were to be found in Australia, the United States, Egypt, India and the United Kingdom and Canada, tying for fifth place.

Apparently, 46 percent of Australians responded affirmatively to being "very happy." Following them was the U.S. (40 percent), Egypt (36 percent), India (34 percent) and the UK and Canada (32 percent). Hungary finished at the top of the "miserable" list, as 35 percent of its citizens claimed to be "very unhappy." The second worse off were Russian citizens, as 30 percent said they were "very unhappy," followed by Turkey (28 percent), South Africa (25 percent) and Poland (24 percent).

The in-depth research questionnaire dealt with the overall quality of life, including both tangible and intangible factors. Interestingly, the outcome revealed that intangible factors rank higher than money and material possessions in determining the happiness level of the responder. At the top of the list of intangible factors are stability, family life, good health, financial security, home ownership, a happy marriage and children. These were followed by control over life, interesting job and leisure time. Other factors characterizing happy people are personal appearance, getting enough sleep, faith, personal hygiene and taking holidays.

Material possessions such as luxury cars, nice clothes and gadgets rated low. Likewise, alcohol and fast food were found not to contribute significantly to happiness.

Not only does money score low in the happiness list, but happy people are less concerned about money and care more about pertinent pressing issues such as AIDS, terrorism and education.

Happy people are also more optimistic, with 33 percent believing that now is a good time to buy what they need and 37 percent being confident of being better off in a year from now.

It is interesting that people from a growing economy like India figure highly in the happiest peoples list. The fact that Indians, by default, place more emphasis on intangible factors like family life and social investments is perhaps one factor contributing to this trend.

Also interesting is the fact that money per se, does not yield happiness, but rather it's a paucity of money that contributes to unhappiness—evident from the fact that unhappy people were in lower income groups or unemployed. This indicates the growing Indian economy that is employing more people at better wages may be a significant reason for the high levels of happiness.

Within India, the people living in Pune are the happiest in comparison to all the other cities that formed part of the survey. Pune has been the favored venue for many of the new units of the business outsourcing industry in India and has seen significant growth in employment and income levels. Additionally, the fact that it represents a fine medley of social values and security is probably a reason why it is home to India's happiest people.

On a global scale though, only 20 percent of people claimed to be very happy with their life, with 62 percent saying they were "satisfied," 10 percent "disappointed" and 4 percent revealed they were "very unhappy."

This survey mapping a gross happiness quotient indicates there is room for more people to catapult themselves from being plain satisfied with their lives to feeling intense happiness, perhaps by concentrating more on their selves and personal relationships.

It also seems evident that elderly people need to work more at sustaining their happiness levels, as only 16 percent of respondents aged 50-59 were "very happy," whereas the happiest age group was found to be 13-19 year olds, with 25 per cent confessing to be "very happy."

"Overall this research shows that the global population is generally quite happy with life," said Nick Chiarelli of GfK NOP, "with 82 per cent claiming to be either very happy or satisfied. It also shows that while money does not necessarily buy happiness, people do want financial stability, but beyond that they are more interested in good health and family life than material possessions."