Young people fare poorly in NZ
Conducted since 2013, the 10th study is the first to separate answers by age group, which reveals a significant generational gap in happiness within NZ.
On average, NZ is the 11th happiest country but when results are filtered to people under 30 years old, we drop to 27th place.
However, Kiwis aged 60 years and older are the 6th happiest in the world.
Interestingly, this dynamic is the opposite of global and historical trends.
“For the world as a whole, in recent years, there is a gradual slight decline in average happiness as age increases,” the report states, adding that, during the early years (2006-2010) the young were typically the happiest group.
However, it isn’t just NZ where youth appear less happy; Australia and North America also had the same results.
These countries, as well as Canada also differed from the rest of the world when it came to gender and happiness. Negative emotions were more frequent in females, especially for those under 30, despite having “the lowest levels of inequality” of the 140 countries.
Kiwis move to Australia for more than happiness
The difference in score between Australia and NZ is just 0.028 points (7.057 vs. 7.029), yet many Kiwis have been tempted across the ditch by money, not happiness.
One Kiwi couple moved to Australia in 2022 and were able to save so much money they could fund a full year of overseas travel.
By March this year, there has already been a net loss of 17,500 Kiwis to Australia. The Herald has reported that numbers are “running at historical highs”.
What about the rest of the world?
It comes as little surprise that Finland was ranked the happiest country in the world. This is the seventh year the Nordic spot has held first place, beating Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Israel, which were the top five.
Researchers also emphasised that using a 3-year average of scores meant countries who have endured recent conflict, such as Israel, still rank highly.
However, the Annual Mental State of the World Report which uses yearly data to rank countries with the best mental wellbeing, sees Israel drop significantly in 2023.
Researchers also pointed out that, unlike previous years, the top countries are no longer necessarily the largest countries.
“In the top 10 countries, only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million. In the whole of the top 20, only Canada and the United Kingdom have populations over 30 million.”
Even then, Canada is ranked 15th and the UK just makes the top 20 list, in 20th.
20 Happiest countries
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Costa Rica
- Kuwait
- Austria
- Canada
- Belgium
- Ireland
- Czechia
- Lithuania
- United Kingdom
