Happiest countries for Gen Z, millennials

Lithuania is the happiest country for Gen Z and millennials, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report.

Countries are ranked according to self-assessed life evaluations and answers to the Cantril ladder question which asks respondents to think of a ladder with the best possible life for them being a 10 and the worst being a zero and then rate their current lives on that scale.

The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, which publishes the report, says it also considers the following six variables in the more than 130 countries ranked in the report:

1. GDP per capita
2. Social Support
3. Healthy life expectancy
4. Freedom
5. Generosity
6. Freedom of corruption

The World Happiness Report ranked the happiest countries for those age 30 and under, who are all considered Gen Z, born 1981-1996, or millennials, born 1997-2012, according to the Pew Research Center.

The final rankings of happiest countries for those under the age of 30 and those 60 and above are quite different. Lithuania took the top spot in this ranking but the country ranked No. 44 for those over 60 and was the No. 19 happiest country in the world, overall.

“Convergence between the two halves of Europe has been driven mainly by the rising happiness of the young,” the report states.

Lithuania had an overall score of 7.759 in the 2024 World Happiness Report. It has been steadily climbing up the happiness rankings since 2017, when it placed 52nd in the overall report, according to the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT).

According to the CIA World Factbook, 63.11% of the country’s population is between 15 and 64 years old, while only 21.59% is 65 years and over.

Lithuania’s cost of living is, on average, 32.2% lower than in the United States, according to Numbeo, and a single person’s estimated monthly costs are under $800, not including rent.

The country’s capital, Vilnius, ranked high in the Financial Times’ European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023. It is also emerging as a hub for gaming industry developers and publishers.

Vilnius is home to 90 percent of the companies in the country’s gaming industry, the LRT states.

The country outperforms the average in life satisfaction, social connections, and health, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Better Life Index. The life expectancy at birth is 83 years, two years higher than the OECD average of 81.

Israel is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world and includes cut diamonds and pharmaceuticals among its major exports, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

While the cost of living in Israel is, on average, only 7.9% lower than in the United States, rent is, on average, 30% lower than in America, according to Numbeo.

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