WIN/Gallup International, the world’s leading association in market research and polling, has published today its 39th End of Year Survey exploring the outlook, expectations, views and beliefs of 66040 people from 68 countries across the globe.

Headlines

• 66% of the world say that they feel happy about their lives, down from 70% in 2014; 23% are neither happy nor unhappy, and 10% feel unhappy about their lives;

• Net happiness (happy minus unhappy) globally is 56%;

• Colombia is the happiest country in the world (85% net happiness), followed by Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Vietnam while Iraq is the least happy for the second year in a row (-12% net happiness);

• 45% of the world is optimistic about the economic outlook for 2016; 22% are pessimistic and 28% believe the economy will remain the same;

• The most optimistic country about economic prosperity in 2016 is Nigeria (61% net optimistic), followed by Bangladesh, China and Vietnam. In contrast, Greece is the most pessimistic (-65% net optimistic) country.

• A little over 1 person out of 2 (54%) believes 2016 will be better than 2015, 16% think it will be worse and 24% believe 2016 will be the same as 2015.

• Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, Fiji and Morocco are the most hopeful nations, while Italy is the least hopeful.

A happy world in 2015

As 2015 comes to an end, 66% of respondents to the WIN/Gallup International survey say that they are happy, down slightly from 70% in 2014. Of the 66040 people surveyed, 10% said that they were unhappy, up 4% from 2014. Overall that means that the world is 56% net happy (happiness minus unhappiness). In 2015 the net happiest country in the world is Colombia (85%), in stark contrast the world’s unhappiest country is Iraq at -12% net happiness.

Economic Optimism high across the world

The study shows that 45% of the world is optimistic for the economic outlook in 2016 over double (22%) of those who are pessimistic. It’s perhaps unsurprising that Greece is the most pessimistic (-65% net optimistic) country given their current perilous financial position. The most optimistic nation when it comes to the economy is Nigeria (61% net optimism). When it comes to a demographic breakdown young people prove to be considerably more optimistic than older generations with 31% net optimistic for the under 34s compared to just 13% for the over 55s.

Hope high amongst aspiring nations

As part of their analysis WIN/Gallup International has grouped the world into three tiers: Prosperous (the G7); Emerging (G20 excluding the original G7) and Aspiring (all others) nations.  Whilst there is huge disparity in income levels  across these three tiers, the level of net happiness across all three (Prosperous 42%, Emerging 59% and Aspiring 54%) is notably  high.  However the findings on hope and economic optimism vary markedly across the tiers.  According to the global poll, Prosperous nations display the least hope and economic optimism with 6% and -16% respectively; to the contrary Emerging nations are very hopeful about the future and far more optimistic about the economic outlook at 50% and 36% meanwhile the Aspiring nations sit between the two on hope (29%) and economic optimism (16%).

Western economies on the slide?

Jean-Marc Leger, President of WIN/Gallup International Association, said: “2015 has been a tumultuous year for many across the globe, despite that the world remains largely a happy place. 45% of the world is optimistic regarding the economic outlook for 2016, up by 3 per cent compared to last year.”

Methodology:

The WIN/Gallup International survey is an annual tradition initiated by and designed under the chairmanship of Dr. George Gallup in 1977. It is conducted every year since then. This year it was carried out by the WIN/Gallup International Association in 68 countries around the world.

Sample Size and Mode of Field Work:

A total of 66040 persons were interviewed globally. In each country a representative sample of around 1000 men and women was interviewed either face to face (30 countries; n=32172), via telephone (15 countries; n=11800) or online (23 countries; n=22068). The field work was conducted during September 2015 - December 2015. The margin of error for the survey is between +/- 3-5% at 95% confidence level.

About WIN/Gallup International

WIN/Gallup International is the leading association in market research and polling and is made up of the 76 largest independent market research and polling firms in their respective countries with combined revenue of over €550 million and covering 95% of the world’s market.

For more than 60 years WIN/Gallup International Members have demonstrated their expert ability to conduct multi-country surveys on a comparable basis and deliver the highest quality. Their Members are leading national institutes with a profound local knowledge of research methods and techniques, statistical sources, customs and culture differences of its own country and carefully selected by the Association Board. With only one Member agency per country, Members work together on a daily basis to share knowledge, new research techniques and tools, as well as to provide the most appropriate solutions to international research projects and service our clients to the best of our abilities.

The accumulated expertise of the Association is formidable - they have internationally renowned experts in public opinion, Third World issues, advertising, and media research as well as in commercial fields such as IT/telecommunications, healthcare, retail, economics, corporate research and so on. Members are at the leading edge of technical and methodological developments, which have impacted on not only the research industry but also the whole commercial world.

Disclaimer: Gallup International Association or its members are not related to Gallup Inc., headquartered in Washington D.C which is no longer a member of Gallup International Association. Gallup International Association does not accept responsibility for opinion polling other than its own. We require that our surveys be credited fully as Gallup International (not Gallup or Gallup Poll). For further details see website: www.wingia.com

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