Global Health vs. Happiness Index

We’re all familiar with the phrase “money can’t buy happiness”, but does being healthy lead to happiness? To find out, the team at Lenstore has analysed the happiest countries from the World Happiness Report against a variety of health metrics to uncover the correlation between the two.

In fact, our study found that out of the 84 countries analysed, those that do not have access to universal health care have an average happiness rating 0.4 points lower than countries that do.

Each country included has been measured for happiness, life expectancy, the availability and quality of healthcare, how physically active people are, the prevalence of visual impairments and its score on the World Health Index.

Study of the Top 10 Happiest Countries Reveals the Important Connection Between Happiness and Health

The first thing that stands out is that the ten happiest countries unanimously offer universal healthcare for citizens. This, alongside high life expectancy, low prevalence of visual impairments, and overall high accessibility and quality of healthcare, all go to show that a healthy country makes for a happy country.

Take a look at how the top 10 happiest countries care for their citizens:

Rank	Country	Health care index	Life expectancy at birth	Healthcare access and quality index	People with visual impairments (%)	Prevalence of insufficient physical activity (2016)	Happiness index
1	Finland	76.0	72.0	89.6	6.84%	16.56	7.8
2	Denmark	80.2	72.7	85.7	6.20%	28.5	7.6
3	Switzerland	73.1	74.4	91.8	6.40%	23.75	7.6
4	Iceland	65.6	73.0	93.6	5.39%	N/A	7.5
5	Norway	74.5	73.3	90.5	6.09%	31.7	7.5
6	Netherlands	75.7	72.4	89.5	5.09%	27.18	7.4
7	Sweden	69.2	72.7	90.5	5.70%	23.13	7.4
8	New Zealand	73.8	73.4	86.2	5.02%	42.38	7.3
9	Austria	78.6	73.3	88.2	6.47%	30.09	7.3
10	Canada	71.8	73.8	87.6	4.84%	28.6	7.2

Finland

Finland comes out as the happiest country globally, but how does this correlate to citizens’ health? With an excellent healthcare system available for all residents, alongside a life expectancy of 76 and a high happiness score of 7.8 out of 10, Finland comes out on top as a healthy, happy country.

Denmark

The Danish, meanwhile, lead a healthy life through healthy eating, exercise and balanced living and, as a result of this, conditions such as obesity are less profound. As a result, preventable diseases are less common and their health services instead use most of their resources on accidental and catastrophic care. Accordingly, residents of Denmark scored high in the World Happiness Report at 7.6 out of 10 and have the 17th highest life expectancy in the world, equating to 72.

Switzerland

The Swiss health care system, Santésuisse, combines public, subsidised private and totally private healthcare systems to form one of the best-equipped medical services in the world. With notoriously short waiting lists, Switzerland places second on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index (91.8) and third for overall happiness, scoring 7.6.

Iceland Revealed as the Top Country for Healthcare Accessibility, Followed by Switzerland, Sweden and Norway

The countries that score high on the quality and accessibility of their often freely available healthcare generally all score high on the happiness index with an average rank of 7.1 in this top 15.

Iceland came forward as the best with a staggering score of 93.6 on the healthcare access and quality index, reflected back into a 7.5 happiness score. Following suit is for Switzerland with a score of 91.8 and 7.6 respectively. Third place is for another Nordic country, Sweden, with a score of 90.5 and 7.4.

Rank	Country	Healthcare access and quality index	Happiness index
1	Iceland	93.6	7.5
2	Switzerland	91.8	7.6
3	Sweden	90.5	7.4
4	Norway	90.5	7.5
5	Australia	89.8	7.2
6	Finland	89.6	7.8
7	Spain	89.6	6.4
8	Netherlands	89.5	7.4
9	Luxembourg	89.3	7.2
10	Japan	89.0	5.9
11	Italy	88.7	6.4
12	Ireland	88.4	7.1
13	Austria	88.2	7.3
14	Belgium	87.9	6.9
15	France	87.9	6.7

European Nations Prove to Have the Best Healthcare

The World Health Organisation (WHO) consistently names Italy as one of the world’s healthiest places to live. Italy may be famous for its pizza, ice cream and pasta, but what makes it a healthy place to live?

Most might put it down to a Mediterranean diet, but their relaxed, friendly and outdoor approach to life all has positive impacts on wellness which equates to a high happiness score of 6.4. It also has a regional health service known as Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN) which scores 67 in the Health Care Index.

Our study shows that healthcare in the United Kingdom is one of the most accessible in the world, as well as being one of the highest in terms of quality. With the overall happiness of Brits at 7.2, an excellent healthcare system, and a high life expectancy (72.5 years), it’s easy to see how health has a positive impact on happiness.

Most of Germany enjoys a relatively moderate climate all year round and with more than 46,000 miles of cycling paths across the country, residents enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle – despite them being known as lovers of baked goods.

Combined with a score of 86.4 out of 100 on the Health Care Access and Quality Index, a long-life expectancy of 72.5 years, and just 6.94% of its population experiencing some sort of visual impairment, Germany scores 7.1 in the happiness index.

The Countries With the Least Prevalence of Visual Impairments Are Amongst the Happiest in the World

Our study shows that the countries with the least prevalence of visual impairments are amongst the happiest in the world.

When taking into account not only happiness but the low prevalence of people with visual deficiencies, the United States comes top with the least vision loss worldwide. Just 3.67% of its residents suffer from visual impairments and the country scores a high 6.9 on the happiness index.

Canada takes second place with only 4.84% of its population experiencing some form of visual impairment. This, alongside a high life expectancy of 73 and Health Care Index Score of 71.8, is reflected in the country's overall happiness score of 7.2.

Third place goes to New Zealand where just over 5% of people suffer from visual impairment, ranging from mild to total blindness. It's clear to see that a lower prevalence of visual deficiencies correlates with happiness with a score of 7.3.

Rank	Country	Health care index	Life expectancy at birth	Healthcare access and quality index	People with visual impairments (%)	Happiness index
1	United States	69.2	68.2	81.3	3.67%	6.9
2	Canada	71.8	73.8	87.6	4.84%	7.2
3	New Zealand	73.8	73.4	86.2	5.02%	7.3
4	Netherlands	75.7	72.4	89.5	5.09%	7.4
5	Australia	77.8	73.9	89.8	5.21%	7.2
6	Ireland	52.3	72.4	88.4	5.38%	7.1
7	Iceland	65.6	73.0	93.6	5.39%	7.5
8	Israel	73.4	82.6	85.5	5.41%	7.1
9	Luxembourg	N/A	72.6	89.3	5.42%	7.2
10	Sweden	69.2	72.7	90.5	5.70%	7.4

The United States Is the Happiest Country in the World Without Access to Universal Healthcare

Despite being amongst the biggest and wealthiest countries on earth, there are still a fair few Western nations that do not provide universal healthcare for their residents. But does this reflect back on the average life expectancy and overall happiness of the people?

Out of all the countries without a universal healthcare system in place, the United States has the highest happiness score of 6.9. People here have a life expectancy of only 68, compared with France which has the longest at 80.7 years, whereas people in Bangladesh are only expected to live up to 43.1 years of age.

The second and third happiest countries without the availability of universal healthcare are the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay, scoring a 6.8 and 6.4 respectively on the happiness index. Citizens of both these countries have a life expectancy of 67, and despite not being available to everyone for free, their healthcare systems have good capacity and rarely lack resources.

Rank	Country	Health care index	Life expectancy at birth	Healthcare access and quality index	People with visual impairments (%)	Happiness index
1	United States	69.2	68.2	81.3	3.67%	6.9
2	United Arab Emirates	67.9	67.3	72.2	6.12%	6.8
3	Uruguay	67.4	69.1	72.0	6.62%	6.4
4	Saudi Arabia	60.4	66.6	79.4	8.23%	6.4
5	Guatemala	65.9	65.1	55.7	11.33%	6.4
6	Slovenia	65.2	71.4	87.4	18.11%	6.4
7	Panama	60.4	69.7	64.4	13.25%	6.3
8	Slovakia	60.2	69.2	78.6	15.44%	6.3
9	Lithuania	70.5	67.9	76.6	24.70%	6.2
10	Poland	52.0	69.7	79.6	13.70%	6.2

Methodology

In order to reveal the correlation between happiness and health we measured the level of happiness per country, based on the World Happiness Report against health metrics including life expectancy, the availability and quality of healthcare, how physically active people are on average, the prevalence of visual impairments, and the World Health Index.

This study analysed over 80 countries. For the full research on all countries, please get in touch.