Malta down in happiness poll

If you're Maltese and not feeling happy, then it's your fault Malta is sharing 38th place with Guatemala in a worldwide survey assessing life satisfaction and happiness carried out by Gallup World Poll.

And while Malta prides itself on being sunny, it seems countries with the midnight sun are even happier than us, with Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden ranking in the top four, and Iceland ranking at 23.

This deals a blow to Malta's belief that they held the title to contentment. In 2005 the Maltese were among the happiest people in the world, with Denmark and Switzerland topping the World Database of Happiness; a collection of more than 8,000 findings from 120 countries.

Then, two years later, the Maltese ranked seventh in Europe's Happy Planet Index, outperforming countries like France, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany for ecological efficiency at delivering well-being. It seems Maltese have become more subdued in 2010.

The Gallup World Poll, carried out in 155 countries between 2005 and 2009 asked its respondents to reflect on their overall satisfaction with life, then ranking their answers using a one to 10 "life evaluation" score.

Respondents were also asked how they had felt the previous day, such as whether they felt well rested, respected, free of pain and intellectually engaged. Those who reported high scores were considered to be "thriving".

While Denmark had 82 per cent of respondents thriving, Malta had a meagre 40, with 48 per cent reporting they were "struggling" and 12 per cent "suffering".

Malta's daily experience rating stood at 6.6 on 10, with the highest score being reported by the Panamanians at 8.4.

Togo came in last, while ironically, the Palestinian Authority is placed before Hungary even though 70 per cent of the population is struggling.

Reporting on the poll, Forbes.com said the connection between money and happiness was evident, as the CIA said Denmark had a per capita GDP of $36,000 in 2009. The survey also shows African countries coming in at the bottom of the table, with Malawi coming in first at 63.

Whatever happens, do not let these figures depress you, lest your disposition affects Malta's rankings in the next survey results.