PEOPLE in Northern Ireland appear to be happier than those in England, Scotland and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The latest bulletin from the ONS’ Measuring National Well-being programme says people in Northern Ireland continue to report higher levels of personal well-being compared with the UK average.
The bulletin covers the period from January to December 2017 and was based on responses to questions on life satisfaction, happiness, anxiety, and whether the things you do in life are worthwhile.
Scotland was the most improved nation, showing increases in average ratings of life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness, compared to no overall changes in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
But despite reporting no overall change, people in Northern Ireland continued to report higher levels of personal well-being compared with the UK average in the year ending December 2017.
Low anxiety levels
A larger proportion of people in Northern Ireland reported very high ratings for happiness, life satisfaction and worthwhile compared with the UK average.
They also reported very low scores for anxiety compared with the average rating.
And since the ONS began reporting the data in 2012, only Northern Ireland and England have seen a drop in their average ratings of self-reported anxiety.
In contrast to Ireland, the latest bulletin shows a larger proportion of people in Wales reported low levels of life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness compared with the UK average.
However, there was no significant difference in anxiety ratings between Wales and the UK average.
The ONS’ latest statistical bulletin on personal well-being can be viewed here.
