Switzerland has the highest level of life satisfaction in Europe
Published: Tuesday, Mar 26th 2024, 11:10
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According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Switzerland had the highest level of life satisfaction of all European countries in 2022. This has hardly changed since 2014. Nevertheless, almost one in ten people were living in financial difficulties.
Switzerland achieved a score of 8 out of 10 for life satisfaction, putting it ahead of neighboring countries Austria (7.9), Italy (7.2), France (7) and Germany (6.5), as the FSO reported on Tuesday.
Satisfaction increases with age, level of education and income. The Swiss population is particularly satisfied in interpersonal areas such as living together, the working atmosphere and personal relationships.
Over half of people aged 16 and over were very satisfied in these areas in 2022. The population is rather unhappy with their leisure time or personal financial situation. Only one in three people were very satisfied here.
In 2022, 4.9% of the population had to do without important goods, services or social activities for financial reasons. Only one in ten people affected by this deprivation is very satisfied with their lives, the report continued. The figure for the population as a whole is more than a third. A quarter of deprived people stated that they felt discouraged or depressed most or all of the time. This figure was only five percent for the population as a whole.
702,000 people are poor
The poverty rate was 8.2%, which corresponds to around 702,000 people. In the previous year, however, the rate was even higher at 8.7%. The price increases for electricity, heating costs and consumer goods since 2022 are not yet reflected in the FSO figures. Foreign nationals, single-parent households, people without post-compulsory education and households with no gainfully employed persons are most frequently affected by income poverty.
Among the working population, the poverty rate was 3.8 percent, which corresponds to 144,000 people. In 2022, the poverty threshold for a single person was CHF 2284 per month and CHF 4010 per month for two adults with two children.
©Keystone/SDA
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