March 20 is the International Day of Happiness, designated by the United Nations, marking its 10th anniversary in 2023. According to its latest World Happiness Report, Hong Kong stands 82nd out of 137 countries and regions, down one place from last year. Taiwan ranks 27th, and Mainland China ranks 64th. The most popular places for Hong Kong people to migrate to include the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the United States, placed 19th, 13th, 12th, and 15th, respectively.
The report surveyed 100,000 people worldwide and measured the average happiness index for the three years from 2020 to 2022. This index was based on six factors: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perception of corruption.
The average happiness index is based on a perfect score of ten. Finland ranks first in the world with a score of 7.804 out of ten, and Denmark and Iceland rank second and third with 7.586 and 7.53, respectively. The United States scored 6.894, Taiwan scored 6.535, China scored 5.818, and Hong Kong scored only 5.308.
The latest report covers the three years when COVID-19 raged. As a result, Hong Kong’s average happiness index scores are significantly different from the previous year’s report, which summarized the average happiness index for 2019-2021 in “social support” and “healthy life expectancy.” During the last year’s report, Hong Kong scored 0.954 in the assessment of “social support,” in which relatives and friends can help at any time, and this year, the score increased to 1.201. However, in the assessment of “healthy life expectancy,” which includes life expectancy and physical and mental health, Hong Kong scored 0.942 in the previous year’s report but only 0.702 this year.
The report does not provide details about Hong Kong’s statistics, but the “social support” aspect of the epidemic is similar worldwide. The report cites the 2022 Gallup poll, which found that respondents in six regions and seven countries (Brazil, Egypt, France, Indonesia, India, and Mexico) reported high levels of social support and connectedness in all areas, with a mean of over three on a scale of one to four for social connectedness and social support, and less than 1.7 for isolation. In addition, the UN report suggests that positive interpersonal relations can help further explain the recovery of life scores in times of crisis.
Happiness equality is the only aspect of the latest report that mentions Hong Kong. The happiness gap between the top and bottom halves of the population reflects happiness equality. According to the report, happiness equality is one of the many factors influencing the average happiness index assessment.
The report categorizes countries or regions with a large gap between the “happiness gap” and the “average happiness index” rankings. Among them, there are 18 countries or areas where the “happiness gap” is 35 places higher than the “average happiness index.” For example, Afghanistan has the smallest “happiness gap.” However, it is also the country with the lowest average happiness index in the world, meaning “almost everyone is depressed,” according to the report. This classification also includes Hong Kong (24th in the world in terms of happiness gap), Sri Lanka, Iran, four Southeast Asian countries, three current or former members of the CIS, and six African countries.
On the contrary, the top Scandinavian countries in terms of happiness score are all at the top of the happiness gap (which also means happiness equality). The United States ranks 15th in happiness and has the 34th-highest happiness gap.
The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI) also conducts annual surveys on people’s happiness. Results released at the end of 2020 show that people’s net happiness in the two year past was negative 45 percentage points. This is a record low since the survey began in 1992 after 2019. By 2021, net happiness will be negative ten percentage points, a significant improvement compared to the past two years. At the end of last year, net happiness decreased by one percentage point, which is also a considerable improvement. At the time, current affairs commentator Derek Yuen Mi-chang commented that Hong Kong people were happier than in previous years because individuals were slowly “finding themselves” from politics and the epidemic and had expectations for their future lives as the epidemic passed. Global economic recession and geopolitical crisis are the hidden worries.
Since November 2021, HKPROI has conducted the “Social Happiness Indicators Survey,” using ten specified areas to assess happiness indicators.
The latest results released in December 2022 show that all indicators have increased compared to the first survey conducted in early November. For example, figures showed that people’s appraisal of personal safety was the highest, with a 6.68 out of a scale of 0-10. Besides, people’s perceptions of Hong Kong people enjoying personal freedom, having opportunities for suitable employment, freedom from fear, protection of disadvantaged groups, fairness and justice in judicial proceedings, and the happiness of children were also more positive, with ratings of 5.89, 5.60, 5.24, 5.21, 5.16 and 5.02 marks respectively.
The last three indicators of social well-being scored below five marks, indicating that people’s appraisal was on the negative side, with only 4.61, 4.46, and 4.23 marks, respectively, meaning that they thought Hong Kong people lacked a lot of political rights, could not live in peace, and were not worry-free.