2023-05-04 16:04:08
The question of whether wealth brings happiness has been on the minds of mankind for a long time, probably at least since the appearance of the first currencies more than four millennia ago. Our infographic attempts to approximate an answer, at least on a global scale. The data presented below represent, on the one hand, the scores obtained by the 133 countries studied on the global happiness index (X axis of the graph) and, on the other hand, their gross domestic product per capita (Y axis ).
As indicated by the distribution of countries (green dots) and the corresponding trend line, there is a correlation between these two variables: the greater the GDP per capita of a country, the more its population tends to obtain an index of high happiness. The correlation coefficient (between -1 and +1) reaches a value of 0.69, which reflects a strong positive association between these variables.
However, there are significant differences between countries and some so-called “outliers”, which contrast greatly with most other measured values. For example, the GDP per capita of Hong Kong (HK), which amounts to 49,700 dollars, is relatively large (higher than that of France: 42,300 dollars), but its happiness index of 5.3 is rather Low: Similar to many countries with GDP per capita below $10,000 (such as Algeria, Albania, Indonesia, and South Africa).
Conversely, other countries such as Costa Rica and Romania, whose GDP per capita (between 13,000 and 15,000 dollars) is more than three times lower than that of France and the United Kingdom, manage to obtain a relatively high happiness index (comparable to the last two: 6.6 points against 6.7 and 6.8 respectively).
In conclusion, if there is indeed a link between the level of wealth of the population and the happiness felt in a country, other factors are also decisive, such as the socio-political context, the living conditions (health, education, freedoms , etc.), or the way national wealth is used and redistributed.
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