North Rhine-Westphalia: People in North Rhine-Westphalia are happier again

Dusseldorf (dpa / lnw) - After most corona measures were abolished, people in Germany are a little happier again - but fears of war and inflation continue to slow them down.

North Rhine-Westphalia: People in North Rhine-Westphalia are happier again

Dusseldorf (dpa / lnw) - After most corona measures were abolished, people in Germany are a little happier again - but fears of war and inflation continue to slow them down. This emerges from the "Happiness Atlas" presented on Tuesday, which the University of Freiburg created with the support of the Süddeutsche Klassenlotterie (SKL). "We have bottomed out, but half of the way is still ahead of us," said the scientific director of the study, Bernd Raffelhüschen, according to the announcement.

"North Rhine-Westphalia is the climber of the year," explained the authors of the study. The federal state climbed from sixth place in the previous year to third place in the current state comparison. On a scale from 0 to 10, North Rhine-Westphalia rated their general satisfaction at an average of 6.98 points - 0.25 points more than in 2021. Before the pandemic, the value was a much higher 7.17.

Only people in Bavaria (7.06 points) and Schleswig-Holstein (7.14 points) said they were even happier. According to the "Glücksatlas", the unhappiest people live in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (6.35 points). On average, people gave their life satisfaction at 6.68 points.

On average, people in western Germany are a little happier than people in the east. During the pandemic, the difference in happiness between East and West has almost disappeared. But recently it has grown again. "The disadvantages that the west had during the pandemic will no longer play a role in 2022: high proportions of younger people, families, city dwellers and the self-employed usually guarantee a higher level of happiness in a region."