Besides residents in Bulgaria, with a life satisfaction rating of just 4.8 out of 10, Portuguese were among the next least satisfied people in Europe, with a rating of 6.2, the same as in Greece, Cyprus and Hungary.
Life satisfaction represents how a respondent evaluates or appraises his or her life taken as a whole. It has a prominent role as it can be regarded as a key indicator of subjective well-being. On a scale from 0 (“not satisfied at all”) to 10 (“fully satisfied”), nearly 80 percent of residents aged 16 and over in the EU rated their overall life satisfaction in 2013 at 6 and higher, with an average (mean) satisfaction of 7.1.
For the purposes of the research, life satisfaction was deemed 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.
While women and men are almost equally satisfied, health condition appears to be one main determining factor in life satisfaction, ahead of factors such as financial position, situation on the labour market or social relations.
Portuguese appear to become more unsatisfied with their lives as they grow older, with the age group 75 and over the least satisfied with a rating of 5.6 whereas the European average was 6.8.
The happiest people in Portugal are those aged between 16 and 24, with their rating of 7.5 just 0.1 points below the average.
With an overall average of 8.0, inhabitants in Denmark, Finland and Sweden were the most satisfied with their lives in the EU, followed by those in the Netherlands and Austria where both achieved ratings of 7.8 out of 10.