Asked Koreans if they are happy... OECD lower ranks

Happiness Index 7th from the Bottom in OECD
Isolation Level 4th from the Top

How happy do Koreans feel?

According to the "Basic Research on Social Policy Performance and Trend Analysis" (Kim Seong-a et al.) by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on the 26th, the happiness level of Korea surveyed by the Gallup World Poll in 2021 was 6.11 out of 10 points. It ranks 7th from the bottom among OECD member countries.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Below Korea are Greece (6.10 points), Japan (6.09 points), Mexico (5.99 points), Poland (5.98 points), Colombia (5.29 points), and Turkiye (4.37 points).

Finland (7.79 points) was the happiest, followed by Denmark (7.70 points), Israel (7.58 points), Iceland (7.56 points), and Sweden (7.44 points). The United States and the United Kingdom scored 6.96 and 6.87 respectively, while Germany and France scored 6.75 and 6.66.

Social isolation was also relatively high among OECD member countries.

Only 32.9% of respondents in Korea answered "most people can be trusted." New Zealand showed a high level at 56.6%, the Netherlands at 55.4%, Australia at 48.5%, and Canada at 46.7%.

Regarding the question "Do you have friends or relatives you can ask for help in difficult situations?" 18.9% answered "no," ranking 4th highest among OECD member countries.

Meanwhile, the question used to rate happiness was: "Imagine a ladder with the bottom rung at 0 and the top rung at 10. The top of the ladder represents the best possible state, and the bottom represents the worst possible state. At which step of the ladder do you think you stand?"

Koreans' happiness score was generally in the high 5-point range, except for a significant increase to 6.12 in 2010 and 6.95 in 2011. Just before COVID-19 in 2019, it was 5.90, which dropped to 5.79 in 2020 when the pandemic began. It rose again in 2021.