Germans are happier than last year – study – DW – 05.11.2024

Germans are significantly happier than last year, according to a study published on Tuesday.

Atlas of Happiness 2024 reported that the national average life satisfaction score is 7.06 out of 10. This is 0.14 points higher than in 2023.

“Germany is back on the path to happiness,” said Bernd Raffelhüschen, scientific director of the Atlas of Happiness and professor at the University of Freiburg.

Happiness rankings highlight East-West divide

Hamburg topped the ranking of Germany’s happiest land with 7.38 points.

The city-state has good health care, schools and child care facilities, and a particularly strong economy, the study report said.

They are followed by Bayern and Schleswig-Holstein with 7.23 points each.

Meanwhile, the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was at the bottom of the list with 6.17 points. The penultimate was the capital Berlin, 6.63.

Life satisfaction also fell in Saxony.

“In 2024, West German states will once again dominate the top third of the rankings, while East German states have again fallen to the middle or bottom positions,” the report said.

Germany recovers from pandemic recession

To compile the Atlas of Happiness, researchers surveyed 12,452 people aged 16 years and older between July 2023 and June 2024.

The researchers said life satisfaction particularly increased among those who have struggled the most during the coronavirus pandemic, such as teenagers and young adults, working mothers and people who live alone.

“2024 marks a year in which – at least from the point of view of a subjective assessment of one’s own life – the crises of 2020-2023 have been overcome for a significant part of the population,” the report says.

Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg have reached or exceeded pre-pandemic levels of self-reported happiness, according to the annual survey.

zc/msh (dpa, AFP, epd, KNA)