A new global poll on happiness conducted on the eve of New Year shows that Fijians are the happiest in the world.

Fiji tops the list of 58 countries surveyed in the WIN-Gallop International Global Barometer of Happiness.

Tebbutt research conducted the Fiji component of the survey.

In Fiji, 89 percent of the people surveyed said they were happy, 4 percent said they were unhappy and 7 percent were neither happy nor unhappy.

So Fiji’s Net Happiness index stands at 85.

Nigeria is second while the Netherlands is third.

Tebbutt Research Group managing director Caz Tebbutt said the global survey was carried out by the world’s largest independent network of opinion pollsters and research companies all over the world and Tebbutt Research is the Fiji member of the network.

Tebbutt said Fiji is renowned for its people and their Bula smile, with happiness perhaps being a part of the culture.

It said for many, this result will not be surprising as tourists travel home with stories about the happy, smiling people of Fiji.

It also revealed that the amount of money that people have did not matter but the relative status which people enjoy in their society that makes one feel happy.

For Fiji, the Net Happiness was highest for those aged from 18 to 29 years.

Their net happiness stood at 89 while those aged from 30 to 44 years stood at 83 and those aged 45 years and over stood at a net of 85.

The happiest are those working full-time.

It also showed that those without religious beliefs had lower net happiness.

Interestingly, Australia sits in 32nd place with a Net Happiness index of 38 with 55 percent of people being happy, 17 percent unhappy and 27 percent neither happy nor unhappy.


Story by: Vijay Narayan