Life Satisfaction in European Countries

Assessing the well-being of a population extends beyond mere economic metrics. A more nuanced understanding often emerges from individuals’ own perceptions of their quality of life.

The European Union’s Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) provides valuable insights into this aspect by collecting data on individuals’ overall life satisfaction. Respondents across European countries, including both EU and non-EU members, are asked to rate their satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied).

This data tracker delves into the latest findings from 2022, and explores variations in satisfaction through the lenses of age, education level, income quintile, sex, and degree of urbanisation.

Switzerland has the highest overall life satisfaction in 2022

With a mean country score of 8.0, Switzerland had the highest self-reported overall life satisfaction in 2022 (out of countries with available data), followed by Austria and Finland (both at 7.9).

At the other end, Türkiye recorded the lowest level of life satisfaction in 2022 at 5.4, followed by Bulgaria (5.6) and Montengro (5.8).

With an average country score across all countries of 7.1, it indicates that Europeans are generally quite satisfied with life. As the available countries with data has changed over time, notably for non-EU countries, we can look at the EU27 average to gauge changes from 2013 (the first year with data) to 2022.

The average EU27 score has remained fairly stable, standing at 7.0 in 2013, increasing to 7.3 in 2018 before decreasing slightly to 7.1 in 2022.

Life Satisfaction by Age

The data indicates that young people generally tend to be more satisfied with life than the elderly. However, in several countries, the elderly report higher life satisfaction than the young. For example, in Switzerland, people aged 65 and older have an exceptionally high score of 8.5, while young people have a score of 7.7, which is still very high. Similar trends are observed in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden, where overall life satisfaction levels are generally high.

Among young people, Poland (8.2), Austria (8.1), Romania (8.1), Czechia (8.0), and Slovenia (8.0) rank highest in life satisfaction. The countries with the lowest satisfaction scores for young people are Türkiye (5.5), Bulgaria (6.4), Montenegro (6.5), and Germany (6.6).

For people aged 65 or older, Switzerland (8.5), Denmark (8.2), and Austria (7.9) are the top-ranking countries. The lowest-ranked countries for the elderly are Bulgaria (4.9), Montenegro (5.1), and Serbia (5.5). Notably, the variation in life satisfaction scores among the elderly is much greater than among younger people, ranging from Switzerland’s high of 8.5 to Bulgaria’s low of 4.9.

The top-ranked countries in 2022 for young people, such as Austria, Czechia, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia, have consistently ranked high since 2013. Among the countries with the biggest declines in life satisfaction for young people, Germany saw a significant drop from 7.6 in 2013 to 6.6 in 2022. Türkiye fell from 6.2 to 5.5, and Denmark declined from 8.0 to 7.3.

Among older people aged 65 or over, Switzerland stands out as the highest ranking country, followed by Denmark, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands in 2022. Also here, Germany has seen a notable decrease from 7.4 in 2023 to 6.6 in 2022.

Life Satisfaction by Sex

There are very few differences between females and males in life satisfaction. This finding is consistent across all countries participating in the 2022 study.

Life Satisfaction by Education Level and Income

A closer look at life satisfaction by education level shows a clear pattern of higher life satisfaction as education level rises. Romania has the highest satisfaction among those with tertiary education, with a score of 8.5. Switzerland tops the rankings among those with secondary education, with a score of 8.0. Among those with lower than secondary education, Finland edges ahead with a score of 7.7, surpassing Norway.

Education is strongly linked to income levels, and if we look at data for life satisfaction based on where people are in the income distribution, a clear pattern emerges. The table below divides the population into five “boxes” based on their income level. The top 20 percent of the population with the highest income (fifth quintile) have the highest life satisfaction across all countries. On the other hand, the bottom 20 percent in the income distribution (first quintile) have the lowest life satisfaction across all countries.

Life satisfaction by household type

Five types of households are categorized in the Eurostat data – one adult, two adults, three or more adults, as well as households with and without dependent children.

Households that include dependent children and two-adult households generally report higher levels of well-being compared to single-person households, which tend to have lower scores. At the EU27 level, the average life satisfaction for a one-adult household is 6.7, with the highest level of satisfaction for households with dependent children at 7.4 in 2022.

If we only look at one-adult households, life satisfaction ranges substantially across countries, from 7.6 in Austria and Switzerland to 4.9 in Bulgaria.

Life Satisfaction by Degree of Urbanisation

Overall, there does not appear to be a one-size-fits-all pattern regarding urbanisation and life satisfaction. In some countries, individuals in rural areas report higher life satisfaction compared to those in cities, while certain countries show that life satisfaction is higher in cities.