Hong Kong has dropped four places to 86th out of 144 countries and territories in the World Happiness Report. The three-yearly study was released on Wednesday to coincide with the UN’s International Day of Happiness.
The 2021-23 survey sees Hong Kong sandwiched between Algeria and Albania. Finland came in top, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.
See also: Hong Kong seeks new strategies to stem rise in student suicides
For respondents under 30, Hong Kong ranked 97 out of 143 countries for happiness, with Lithuania topping the poll followed by Israel and Serbia.
The World Happiness Report is a partnership between its editorial board and pollster Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Based on a Gallup World Poll, the survey asked around 1,000 people in each country to evaluate their current life as a whole using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life ranked as a 10 and worst possible as zero. It used weights to construct population-representative national averages, with the final rankings based on the average of three years of samples.
According to the study, changes in happiness varied greatly from 2006-10 to 2021-23. Serbia rose 69 places, Bulgaria was up 63, whilst Afghanistan fell 13 places to bottom. Central and Eastern European countries saw the largest increases in happiness, as did East Asia – especially among the old. But life evaluations fell in South Asia, as well as in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The report also cross-referenced the results along the lines of six key variables: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. “Taken together, these six variables explain more than three-quarters of the variation in national annual average ladder scores across countries and years, using data from 2005 through 2023,” the report said.
Spike in student suicide
Mental health has been in the spotlight in Hong Kong over recent years. Last year saw a decade-high number of suspected student suicides, with the Education Bureau receiving 31 reports in the first 11 months of 2023. Local health authorities revealed that more than 1,800 Hongkongers under the age of 18 had been diagnosed with depression at public healthcare facilities in 2022-23.
The government cited “greater challenges” faced by students after the full resumption of classes following the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the factors contributing to the trend.
Established in 2023, the UN’s International Day of Happiness calls for “a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes the happiness and well-being of all peoples,” according to its website.
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