Korea ranks 27th in happiness index

Australia is the world’s happiest nation based on criteria including income, jobs, housing and health, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

Australia led Sweden and Canada, the Paris-based group’s Better Life Index showed when each of 11 categories surveyed in 36 nations is given equal weight.

More than 73 percent of people aged 15 to 64 in Australia have a paid job, above the OECD average of 66 percent, while life expectancy at birth in Australia is almost 82 years, two years higher than the OECD average, the survey showed.

Korea ranked 27th out of 36 in all categories, followed by Portugal and Hungary. Turkey came in at the bottom.

The OECD stated that “When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, Koreans gave it a 6.0 grade, lower than the OECD average of 6.6.”

The report also found that those who have received higher education are likely to be happier than those with lower education levels.

By Bloomberg, Park Eun-jee [ejpark@joongang.co.kr]