We’ve all got our own ideas about what happiness looks like. It could be owning loads of stuff, having a rich circle of loved ones, being in the best shape of your life, living somewhere green or having your dream job. Our happiness levels are also ever-changing, which is what makes deciding on the happiest place in the UK so tricky. But that doesn’t stop people from trying.
The Guardian decided that the northern town of Berwick-upon-Tweed was the happiest town in the UK while Rightmove, which quizzed more than 35,000 people, declared Woodbridge in Suffolk the UK’s most content town. Now, another happiness survey has come along, crowning an entirely different place the happiest in the land (at the moment, anyway).
Every quarter since 2011, the Office for National Statistics has surveyed 20,000 residents across the UK on how happy they are. Specifically, it asks: ‘Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday? Where 0 is 'not at all happy' and 10 is 'completely happy’. This week, the data watchdog released the results from the final three months of 2024.
Northern Ireland was the happiest of the four nations, with a score of 7.7 out of 10. Scotland earned of 7.5 while England and Wales both got a mean score of 7.4. Overall, for October to December 2024, Brits scored an average 7.4 out of ten on the happy scale (down by 0.1 compared to July to September).
The ONS also broke down the data by regions in England and revealed that folk in the south west are the most likely to be content. Residents in Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire scored the highest average of 7.6 on the happiness index.
When it comes to life satisfaction, Northern Ireland also ranked the highest, with a score of 7.8 out of 10. It came top again when the ONS asked residents whether they feel like things they do in their life are ‘worthwhile’, earning an overall score of 8 out of 10.
The ONS does caveat that there are limitations of the survey, as it only features residents living at private addresses. At the moment, the data excludes most communal establishments, like student halls, hospitals, care homes and prisons.
See which areas emerged as the most miserable in the ONS’s survey here.
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