KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders are prone to moaning about the nation's politicians, weather, public transport and the inconsistency of our sports teams, but it seems we are happier with our lot than 90 per cent of the world.
In a global survey of "subjective well-being", New Zealand came in at 18 out of 178 nations on the happiness scale. We outrank America (23), the UK (41) - and, big smile here folks! - arch-rivals Australia (at 26).
European countries beat everyone else at looking on the bright side of life. Top of the table was Denmark, with Switzerland second, and Austria and Iceland in third and fourth places. Finland came in sixth and Sweden seventh.
Bhutan, a southern Asian country so isolated that it didn't get TV and the internet until 1999 when its king lifted a ban took eighth place.
Strife-ridden countries like Congo, Zimbabwe and Burundi were on the bottom of the list - evidently a surprise to the guide's University of Leicester authors, who came to the not-likely-to-be-challenged conclusion that poverty has an effect on people's happiness. Further analysis revealed that high levels of health, wealth and education were strong indicators for success on the list, while many heavily populated countries (China 82nd, Japan 90th, and India 125th) scored badly.
Waitakere major Bob Harvey told the Herald on Sunday that last month's national Quality of Life survey, completed for New Zealand's 12 largest councils and the Ministry of Social Development, showed much the same result. "Kiwis are absolutely happy to be Kiwis," he said, before adding: "And Westies are absolutely the happiest people in the country."
In fact, last month's survey said of the 90 per cent of New Zealand residents who felt they had a positive overall quality of life, Waitakere's citizens were significantly less likely to rate theirs as "extremely good" or even "good". Rodney residents came tops.
Harvey said Kiwis seemed to be more appreciative now of how lucky they were to be living here given recent global events, and this was brought home to him when he conducted citizenship ceremonies three times a week.
"I see people absolutely bouncing off the walls in happiness at becoming Kiwis."
Psychologist Sara Chatwin said the key to happiness was "keeping it simple".
"In Western culture, and certainly in New Zealand, it's not about measuring yourself against the Joneses. That's something of a redundant concept now. And it's not about chasing the big dollars - it's probably more about hitting that middle ground.
"We have being small, self-reliant and patriotic going for us, as well as a relatively nice lifestyle and climate.
"We have options and, compared to overseas, there's not a huge gulf between rich and poor - although it is becoming bigger."
