The British are happier than the French but more miserable than the Irish , an EU league table of happiness revealed yesterday . It found that we are on a par with the Germans when we measure our satisfaction with life , and much more cheerful than those worst hit by the euro crisis , including Spain , Italy , Portugal and Greece . Scandinavian countries ranked happiest , according to the table compiled by Eurostat , the EU ’ s statistics arm . The British are happier than the French but more miserable than the Irish , an EU league table of happiness revealed yesterday . It was put out to mark today ’ s International Day of Happiness established by the UN and was based on answers to the question : ‘ Overall , how satisfied are you with your life these days ? ’ Britons scored 7.3 out of ten – compared to a European average of 7.1 – but the Danes , Finns and Swedes all recorded an average satisfaction level of eight . In Britain , the results of the surveys have shown that married people are happier than cohabitees or single people ; that young people and the newly retired are happier than the squeezed middle-aged ; and that we worry more about our health than most of the rest of the EU . They have also suggested that better-off people are happier than those who are poor . Ireland scored 7.4 to just pip Britain while the people of economically stagnant France rated seven . The Mediterranean countries came even lower , while Bulgarians were bottom of the table , recording a miserable 4.8 . The happiness league follows the introduction by Brussels of life satisfaction surveys which are carried out by national statistics ministries across the continent . Britain has been measuring the happiness of the population since 2010 , when David Cameron backed the idea , saying it was as important to know about people ’ s well-being as to publish economic figures . The British surveys are costing taxpayers £2 million a year . Eurostat said yesterday : ‘ Life satisfaction is a multi-dimensional concept , which is very much shaped by various socio-demographic factors which lead to different living situations as well as to different expectations and preferences. ’ It said that broadly men and women were equally happy , and health was more important to people than money , work or friends .
British are happier than the French according to an EU table of happiness . Scandinavian countries ranked happiest and Brits are on par with European . The results were put out to mark today ’ s International Day of Happiness . Britons scored 7.3 out of ten – compared to a Germans average of 7.1 .