The press release was prepared by KIIS intern Olha Cheryomukhina

    The research in question has been conducted by the Gallup International Association of Independent Research Agencies since 1947 in 42 countries, including Ukraine for some time. Romir Research Holding is a representative of this association throughout the post-Soviet space, and in Ukraine this year this research was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) together with the “Democratic Initiatives” Foundation[1]. 

Commentof  the KIIS Director General V. Paniotto watch on the KIIS YouTube channel

In this research, the index of happiness is calculated as the percentage of those who consider themselves happy, minus the percentage of those who consider themselves unhappy.

The survey was conducted in early December 2020 by the method of CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviews) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. The sample is representative for the adult population (18 years and older) of Ukraine. The sample does not include territories that are temporarily not controlled by the authorities of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 1000 interviews were conducted during the survey. Statistical sampling error (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) does not exceed 3.5%.

• More than two out of five (43%) surveyed in the countries surveyed believe that the next twelve months will be better than the previous ones, 24% - that will be worse and 26% - that will be the same. Hong Kong has the highest pessimism (57% - which will get worse), while the optimism is the strongest in Azerbaijan (73% - which will get better). Instead, 37% of Ukrainians believe that year 2021 will be better than the previous one.
• These are the results of the world's longest global survey conducted in 1979 by Gallup International. Covering more than 40 countries and talking to more than 38,000 adults, the results also show that, being more optimistic about 2021, this feeling does not extend to opinions about the development of the world economy. As a blow to many enterprises, next year's consumers spendings are likely to be small. About one in two (46%) believe that 2021 will be a year of economic difficulties, and only 25% believe that it will be a year of economic prosperity
• In general, exactly EU citizens drive this pessimism; as the pandemic in many EU countries does not indicate that it is under control, 63% believe that next year will be economically difficult. Ukraine also has no hope for the state of the economy, so 51% believe that next year will be a year of economic difficulties.
• However, despite economic pessimism, happiness clearly shines through. More than half (54%) of respondents in the countries surveyed said they considered themselves happy, with only about one in ten (14%) saying they were unhappy. Slightly more than a quarter of respondents (31%) consider themselves neither happy nor unhappy. That is, the corresponding average index is 40%.
• In Ukraine, it is slightly lower than in the world as a whole (lower than the so-called "world index of happiness "), in addition, Ukraine shows a sharp decline compared to last year: in 2019 33%, in 2020 14%. However, this index is still higher than in 2018 (then it was 8%). 
• It is noteworthy that the number of happy (49%) is still greater than the number of unhappy (35%), the number of happy for the year has not changed, the decline in the index of happiness was due to an increase in the number of unhappy.
• Kancho Stoichev, President of the GIA, so commented on the results of the research: "In such a rare case, when we have a real world public opinion, the world as a whole remains optimistic for next year, but pessimistic attitudes dominate in most countries than usual. Although people expect the coming 2021 to end the pandemic, there are no illusions that economic difficulties will be overcome in the short terms. Of course, the debate on the balance between health care and prosperity will be the focus of world power for years to come.".

How happy or unhappy you feel in relation to the events of your personal life?

 

As Ukraine found itself in a dozen countries whose residents tend to weigh their personal lives unhappy, we provide data on the most "happy" and "unhappy" countries in the world.

 

Index of happiness by countries. TOP of the most "happy" and "unhappy" countries

 

As you can see, the indicator of happiness depends primarily on the internal local feeling of happiness, and the economic situation of the respondents is also a weighty factor. An interesting aspect is the feeling of happiness of Ukrainians, which is almost on a par with Armenia, which in 2020 waged war with Azerbaijan.

The distribution of the index of happiness by different regions of the world can be considered informationally interesting. It reiterates that neither the degree of economic development nor the region directly affects the perception of their lives by people happy or unhappy.

In this context, the distribution of the index of happiness by regions of the world is quite informative:

Judging by the data, it can be argued that neither the financial situation nor the war does not affect the feeling of happiness in a particular region. Although, of course, such influences are present, they often do not become decisive. Still, the feeling of happiness is the inner feeling of each person or the desire to feel happy or not.

Survey results for all countries, 2020

Country	Interviewed	Q2. In general, you are personally very satisfied, satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, dissatisfied or quite dissatisfied with your life?
		very satisfied	satisfied	neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	dissatisfied	quite dissatisfied	Don’t know/ didn’t answer	Index
THE WORLD AS A WHOLE	38709	13%	41%	31%	10%	4%	2%	40%
AFGHANISTAN	1724	14%	34%	36%	12%	4%	*	32%
ARGENTINA	1010	13%	41%	34%	9%	2%	2%	43%
ARMENIA	1002	6%	29%	40%	15%	8%	3%	12%
AUSTRIA	1000	9%	46%	33%	9%	2%	1%	44%
AZERBAIJAN	500	35%	45%	15%	3%	1%	1%	76%
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA	1000	13%	40%	37%	7%	2%	1%	44%
BULGARIA	808	3%	38%	46%	9%	1%	3%	31%
COLOMBIA	500	17%	63%	15%	3%	*	2	77%
CZECH REPUBLIC	1000	5%	31%	48%	12%	2%	2%	22%
ECUADOR	700	26%	54%	18%	3%	*	*	77%
FINLAND	1193	7%	49%	34%	8%	2%	*	46%
GEORGIA	1008	10%	39%	41%	7%	3%	*	39%
GERMANY	1000	9%	43%	35%	10%	3%	1%	39%
GHANA	1000	18%	20%	21%	25%	13%	2%	0%
HONG KONG	509	6%	29%	35%	20%	8%	1%	7%
INDIA	1007	23%	41%	24%	10%	2%	*	52%
INDONESIA	1000	20%	44%	30%	4%	*	1%	60%
IRAQ	1014	11%	37%	22%	19%	12%	*	17%
ITALY	1018	4%	36%	51%	6%	1%	2%	33%
JAPAN	1151	15%	47%	28%	2%	1%	8%	59%
KAZAKHSTAN	500	15%	63%	19%	*	*	2%	78%
KOSOVO	1189	16%	47%	21%	10%	4%	1%	49%
KYRGYZSTAN	441	45%	40%	15%	-	-	*	85%
NORTHERN MACEDONIA	504	5%	24%	38%	21%	11%	1%	-3%
MALAYSIA	1003	8%	46%	25%	17%	4%	*	33%
MEXICO	500	12%	33%	36%	8%	7%	5%	30%
NIGERIA	1000	40%	40%	9%	7%	3%	*	70%
PAKISTAN	1030	42%	23%	8%	7%	18%	1%	40%
PERU	1210	13%	40%	41%	3%	1%	1%	49%
PHILIPPINES	1000	8%	50%	26%	13%	3%	*	42%
POLAND	1006	8%	43%	33%	10%	2%	5%	39%
RUSSIA	1500	7%	34%	33%	16%	6%	5%	19%
SERBIA	1008	7%	44%	39%	7%	1%	1%	43%
THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1500	3%	46%	44%	6%	*	1%	43%
SPAIN	920	11%	54%	26%	7%	2%	*	56%
SWITZERLAND	1000	12%	47%	32%	5%	1%	2%	53%
THAILAND	600	5%	41%	39%	14%	1%	*	31%
TURKEY	681	7%	39%	31%	15%	6%	1%	25%
UKRAINE	1004	5%	44%	14%	25%	10%	2%	14%
GREAT BRITAIN	1000	5%	42%	33%	14%	6%	1%	27%
USA	1373	15%	45%	21%	13%	5%	1%	42%
VIETNAM	600	14%	46%	38%	1%	-	*	59%

 

Index of happiness as of 2020

 

Coverage of regions:

▪ The EU as a whole unites the EU West and the EU East

▪ West of the EU - Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain

▪ East of the EU - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland

▪ Non-EU Europe - Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine

▪ Latin America - Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru

▪ East Asia - Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Vietnam,

▪ West Asia - Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey

▪ Africa - Nigeria, Ghana

▪ The United States, India, and Russia do not fall into any other regional category

Sampling size and mode of field work:

A total of 38,709 people were interviewed worldwide. Between October and December 2020, an interview was conducted with a representative sample of approximately 1,000 men and women was interviewed in each country, either in person, by telephone, or online.

The survey error is from + 3-5% at the level of 95% of confidence.

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