"Overall, how satisfied are you with your life these days?" people across the European Union (EU) were asked.
Life satisfaction represents how a respondent evaluates or appraises his or her life taken as a whole. It has a prominent role as it can be regarded as a key indicator of subjective well-being. On a scale from 0 (not satisfied at all) to 10 (fully satisfied), nearly 80% of residents aged 16 and over in the EU rated their overall life satisfaction in 2013 at 6 and higher, with an average (mean) satisfaction of 7.1, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, reports.
Total life satisfaction in Lithuania in 2013 is below the EU's average and stands at 6.7. Young people in Lithuania aged from 16 to 24 seem to be the most satisfied as their average score is 7.8. The oldest proportion of people in Lithuania (75 and older) is also the least satisfied with their lives in the EU (6.1).
In 2013, mean life satisfaction, measured on a scale of 0 to 10, varied significantly between EU member-states. With an overall average of 8, inhabitants in Denmark, Finland and Sweden were the most satisfied with their lives in the EU, followed by those in the Netherlands and Austria (both 7.8). At the opposite end of the scale, residents in Bulgaria (4.8) were by far the least satisfied, followed by those in Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Portugal (all 6.2).
When looking at age groups, life satisfaction in the EU was highest in 2013 among young people (an average of 7.6/10 among the EU population aged 16-24), and lowest for elderly people (an average of 6.8/10 among the EU population aged 75 and over). It should be noted that life satisfaction at EU level tends to decrease with rising age, with the exception of the age group 65-74, which is for most people the period right after retirement.
In 2013, the highest average rating of life satisfaction in the EU was to be found among the population reporting a very good health condition (7.9/10). Factors such as financial situation (an average of 7.5 among the population in the highest income tercile), and social relations (an average of 7.2 among the population having someone to rely on in case of need as well as among people living in households with dependent children) also appeared to be significant in influencing life satisfaction, albeit less so than health.
Another finding of the data collected by Eurostat on subjective well-being is that there is a very narrow gender gap in life satisfaction. Males (7.1/10) and females (7.0/10) living in the EU reported on average a nearly identical level of life satisfaction in 2013.
