Romania is at the bottom of a ranking that includes countries where people feel very happy, according to a survey conducted by WIN/ Gallup International in 65 countries across the world.

The study, made for the end of 2014, shows that 70% of the respondents worldwide are happy, which represents a 10% increase over 2013. Of the 64,002 people polled just 6% declared themselves to be unhappy, compared to last year’s 12%, while those that are neither happy nor unhappy has remained stable, 23% against 26% last year, according to the survey.

In Romania, 37% of the respondents said they are happy, 4% are very happy, 17% - unhappy, and 5% very unhappy. Overall, the results translated into 41% happy Romanians, and 22% unhappy, according to the survey. The full results for Romania are here. 

People living in underdeveloped countries are much happier than those living in developed states, Africa being the happiest region, with 83%, followed by Asia with 77%.

Fiji comes first in the ranking, 93% of those surveyed in this country saying they are happy or very happy. Colombia comes next with 90%, followed by Nigeria – 89%, Saudi Arabia – 87% and Philippines – 86%.

The bottom countries are Greece – with 25%, Iraq – 31%, Bulgaria – 32%, Hong Kong – 39% and Italy/Romania/ Serbia – 41%. The margin of error for the survey is between 2.14 and 4.45 +3-5% at 95% confidence level.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com