Life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole and is a subjective indicator that complements more objective indicators on the quality of people’s lives.
When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, people on average across the OECD gave it a 6.7 in 2021‑22 (Figure 8.1). However, life satisfaction varies considerably across OECD countries. In 2021‑22, people in Finland, Israel, Denmark and Iceland were most satisfied with their lives, with scales of 7.5 and higher, and the other Nordic countries were not far behind. The measured level of life satisfaction in Finland was about three “steps” (see box with definitions) higher than in Türkiye, the country ranked at the bottom. Other countries with low life satisfaction include Colombia and Greece. Life satisfaction also varies between emerging economies, from a scale above 6 in Argentina, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, to below 4 in India.
Life satisfaction varies by socio-demographic group (Figure 8.2). While men and women report similar levels of life satisfaction on average across OECD countries, various countries report gender gaps in life satisfaction. In Denmark and Lithuania men report higher levels than women, while in Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Türkiye women report higher levels than men. Life satisfaction tends to decrease with age and young people are on average more satisfied than older age groups. In 2021/22, youth from Israel and Lithuania were the most satisfied with their lives in the OECD, while people aged 50 and over in Türkiye reported the lowest levels. A full-time job, higher education, higher income and, to a lesser extent, living in an urban area rather than a rural area increase the likelihood of higher life satisfaction.
A snapshot of people’s daily feelings, emotions and experiences is presented in Figure 8.3, using the positive and negative experience indexes of Gallup. Among OECD countries, the composite “positive experience” index is highest in Costa Rica and Mexico and lowest (by far) in Türkiye, while the “negative experience” index is highest in Türkiye and lowest in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Across these countries, high values of the positive experience index tend to be associated with high scores of life satisfaction, while there is only a weak negative correlation between the positive and negative experience indexes.
