Cypriots have estimated their level of happiness

On a scale from 0 to 10, Cypriots are 6.2 happy with their lives overall compared with an EU average of 7.1 out of 10. The happiest bunch in the bloc are the Swedes and the Finns, scoring an overall 8 out of 10, and the least happy are Bulgarians with an overall life satisfaction rate of 4.8. The new figures were released on Monday by Eurostat, accompanied by an interactive infographic. The publication ‘Facts and views about quality of life in the EU’ is a multi-dimensional measurement of well-being. Traditionally official statistics describe economic and social developments by using indicators such as GDP. However, today it is widely accepted that GDP alone is not enough to show how well or badly people are doing, the report says. “The objective is to shed light on what could impact upon the quality of life, ranging from the educational level, to activity to health status to the family and financial situations”. As people’s life satisfaction cannot be reduced to one single aspect, the publication provides a multidimensional measurement of the quality of life,” said Walter Radermacher, Director-General of Eurostat. The areas covered include material living conditions; employment, health, education, leisure and social interactions, economic and physical safety, governance and basic rights, natural and living environment; personal relationships and overall life satisfaction.