Austrians happiest in EU, while Germans grow glummer

Is it something to do with all the schnitzel and the fresh mountain air? The cliches foreigners harbor about the small central European nation of Austria probably have little bearing on it, but its residents are the most satisfied people in the European Union — at least according to the freshly published findings of EU statistics agency Eurostat.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Austrians rated their overall life satisfaction at 7.9, putting them ahead of Finland, Poland and Romania, each scoring 7.7. The EU average, calculated using survey data from each of the 27 member states gathered in 2022, was 7.1.

Despite the multiple crises unfolding on the continent in recent years, the survey revealed a high level of satisfaction overall. Respondents were asked questions about their material living conditions, such as income or housing, the quality of leisure time and their relations with other people.

Eurostat has not yet published the breakdown of each section, but in previously published data from 2018, Austrians declared themselves especially satisfied with their personal relationships. They reported an average 8.6 satisfaction score — the same as Slovenians, the Irish and the Maltese.

Happiest country surveyed is not in the EU

Besides Austria, non-EU state Switzerland stood out in the recently published findings. Switzerland, frequently included in Eurostat studies due to its close economic ties with and geographic proximity to the bloc despite not being a member of the EU, beat the entire EU with a satisfaction score of 8.0.

Next came member states Poland, Romania and Finland with 7.7 each. For years Finland has dominated the UN World Happiness Report, which is compiled using a slightly different methodology.

Eurostat also gathered basic biographical data from respondents. The agency's statisticians noted that people with a higher level of education reported themselves happier in all EU countries than those with a lower level of education.
This difference was most pronounced in Slovakia, where there was a 1.6-point gap between people with no end-of-school qualifications and those with a university degree.

Eurostat also found that in most countries, younger people were more satisfied than older people- Only in Scandinavia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg was it the other way around.

Gap between EU countries closing, but Germany slipping

In a possible sign of EU integration, the difference in scores among the 27 countries has narrowed over subsequent waves of the survey.

Bulgaria, however, has consistently come last in the poll. In 2022, Bulgarians reported their satisfaction level at 5.6 — not great, but an improvement from 2018 when the score was 4.8.

Germany, on the other hand, has slipped far down the rankings. While satisfaction was only 0.6 points below Austria in 2018, it reached a new low in 2022: on average, Germans scored just 6.5 — the lowest score in the EU after Bulgaria.

This article was originally written in German.