Warning, it's not a joke. Many of you will disagree or just find it unreal, but apparently 68% of the world population declares to be happy with their life (up from 66% in 2015), while 22% are neither happy nor unhappy and only 9% say they are unhappy. However, the Italian figure for happiness is lower: 46%, with an imperceptible increase of only +2%.
This was revealed by the year-end global survey conducted by Win/Gallup International, the largest global network of independent research institutes, of which Doxa is the partner for Italy, on the forecasts, expectations and hopes of citizens of 66 countries all over the world. According to the survey, now in its 40th edition, the 'Net happiness' index, given by the difference between the percentages of the happy and that of the unhappy, is equal to 59% worldwide and 38% in Italy, both slightly increasing compared to a year ago.
Fiji and China are the happiest countries (net happiness 89% and 80% respectively) followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Panama, Indonesia and Paraguay while Iraq is once again at the bottom of the ranking this year (net happiness 1%). 42% of the world's population looks optimistically at the economic prospects for 2016 (down by 3 points compared to 2015), 22% with pessimism and 31% believe that the situation will remain substantially unchanged from an economic point of view. The most optimistic countries in this regard are Ghana and Bangladesh, while South Korea, Hong Kong and Greece appear to be the most pessimistic.
The worldwide survey by Win/Gallup International therefore shows that, despite the fact that the year that is about to end was characterized by frequent and bloody terrorist attacks, there is a slight increase in the population (66.541 people interviewed) who declare themselves happy, albeit with great differences between different areas of the world. Optimism about the economic outlook is high, but down slightly compared to a year ago and Italy occupies (unfortunately) the last place. From the point of view of economic prospects for next year, the survey reveals a share of optimists that is almost double the pessimists worldwide: 42% against 22%, but the 'net hope' index (optimists minus pessimists) drops from 23 to 20%.
Also on this aspect the differences between the various areas of the planet are very evident: European citizens in particular appear to be the most pessimistic, with an index of -26% in the European Union area and -20% in non-EU European countries. The most pessimistic is Italy, together with the United Kingdom and France. On a general level, explains Win/Gallup, what emerged also in the previous editions of the research is confirmed: the most advanced nations, characterized by mature economic systems (typically the EU and North America) register the lowest levels of hope and optimism, while the emerging nations are richer in hope and look decidedly more optimistic to their economic prospects: this is the case of Bangladesh, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and the Fiji Islands, followed by the highly populated China and India.
Going into the data collected a little more in detail: in Italy and processed by Doxa, the percentage of those who expect a better year are substantially stable compared to 2015 (14% vs 15%), with slightly higher values in the aged 25-44 and in the North-West regions. The outlook for the economy remains negative: those expecting a year of economic prosperity are in line with 2015 (9% vs 8%), but the slight increase (from 55% to 57%) predicts a year of economic difficulty.
