HAPPY LIFE YEARS IN 149 NATIONS 2000-2009
How long and happy people live

Technical details

1. Average enjoyment of life assessed by means of surveys in general public samples. Data are taken from Rank Report Average Happiness.

2. Life expectancy is estimated on the basis of civil registrations of birth and death around 2005. Source: Human Development Reports, table 1. Missing cases taken from World Life-expectancy Chart .

3. 'Happy Life Years' is an estimate of how long and happy the average citizen will live in that nation in this era. Computation: 0-1 enjoyment of life multiplied by expected length of life.

   • Also referred to as: "Happy Life-Expectancy" (HLE) or "Happiness Adjusted Life-Years", shortened as "HALY's (Analogous to Disability Adjusted Life Years. or "DALY's).

   • This variable is described in more detail in Veenhoven. R. Happy Life Expectancy. A comprehensive indicator of quality of life in nations. in: Social Indicators Research. 1996. vol.39. pp. 1-58.

   • Further argumentation of theoretical significance of this measure can be found in Veenhoven. R. The four qualities of life: Ordering concepts and measures of the good life, in Journal of Happiness Studies. 2000. vol. 1. pp. 1-39.

   • This measure scored highest in a scholarly review of indicators. See: Hagerty. M.. et. al. ‘Quality of Life indexes for national policy: Review and agenda for research’. Social Indicators Research. 2001. vol. 55. pp. 1-96.

This list is included in the SPSS datafile States of Nations as variable HLY_LSBW10.11_2000.09 .

Cite as:
Veenhoven. R.. Happy Life Years in 149 nations 2000-2009. World Database of Happiness. Rankreport Happy Life Years. Internet: worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_nat/findingreports/RankReport_HappyLifeYears.php