What is the price of happiness? How much money does it take to be happy? Various studies and research projects have already tried to answer these questions. For example, a 2010 U.S. study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton concluded that a higher income equates to an objectively greater sense of achievement, which increases emotional well-being, but only up to an annual income of $75,000 per person. Beyond that, more money would not make people happier.
The 2018 study “Happiness, Income Satisfaction, and Turning Points Around the World” by Purdue University, which surveyed 1.7 million people in 164 countries, came to a similar conclusion. According to the study, the monetary happiness threshold averaged $60–75,000. Crucially, however, the researchers said there were stark differences between countries, and in wealthier regions, “happiness saturation” occurred later when people had more money.
Foreign exchange provider S Money has drawn on this idea and counterbalanced the Purdue study’s figures, considering purchasing power and local living costs. After all, if the amount of income affects happiness, that also depends heavily on where the money is spent.
What is the result? In Iran, happiness “costs” the most. Here, it is achieved only with an annual income of $239,700. The most accessible place to afford happiness is Sierra Leone, Africa, with a yearly income of $8658.
As expected, some of the highest-income countries in the world are among those where happiness is most expensive. Norway, with $117,724, ranks 5th, for example. However, this cannot be generalized; in Iran, more than half the population lives below the poverty line, and one in nine has to get by on less than $5.5 a day. In addition, inflation is very high at 47.7 percent. The price of happiness here is probably due to economic conditions, concludes S. Money.
Top 10 countries with the highest price of happiness:
- Iran ($239,700)
- Yemen (172,140 dollars)
- Australia (121,191 dollars)
- zimbabwe (118,342 dollars)
- 5th Norway (117,724 dollars)
- 6th Switzerland ($115,745)
- 7th New Zealand ($114,597)
- 8th Israel ($112,506)
- 9th Iceland ($111,908)
- 10th USA ($105,000)
Top 10 countries with the lowest price of happiness:
- Sierra Leona ($8,658)
- Suriname (10,255 dollars)
- Madagascar (11,355 dollars)
- Guyana ($11,707)
- Sudan ($11,845)
- Nicaragua ($11,941)
- Colombia ($12,159)
- Gambia ($12,597)
- bolivia ($12,795)
- Ghana ($12,949)
What does the situation look like in Austria? Here, you need an annual income of $86,216. That puts Austria behind countries like Norway ($117,724), Switzerland ($115,745), Iceland ($111,908), and Luxembourg ($97,989).
- source: orf.at/picture:
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