Which is the Most Depressed Country on Earth?

The WIN-Gallup International Association and its Expert Group on Opinion Research have recently (22.12.2010) released what they call their Global Barometer of Hope and Despair for 2011. In this survey they have conducted interviews of more than 64.000 people from 53 countries all over the world. They have studied the relationship between income per capita and hope for the future. From their findings it is possible to determine which country is the most depressed and which is the happiest one.

Here are some of those findings:

• Western Europe is the most depressed region of the world. They have a net hope score of -23
• Africans, on the other hand, live on the happiest continent with a net hope score of a whopping 67, suggesting that wealth and material goods are not the key to happiness. The comparative levels of unrest in the two regions make this all the more astounding.
• Of the G7 countries, only Germany manages to get a score above 0. Their score of 3 is 61 more than the most depressed G7 country. More on this later.
• Afghans, with a score of 24, are a lot more happy than Americans with their measly -9. The USA heads the income per capita ranking of nations with 46.730 $. Afghanistan occupies the 52nd place on this list with 1.500 $. That is roughly 1/31 of the USA.
• The happiest country in the world is Nigeria with a score of 70. This is despite them being the fifth poorest country in the survey.
• The most depressed country in the world is...

France

Ahead of Romania (-46) and Iceland (-51) France is the most depressed country in the world with a net hope score of -58. Whether the recent passing of legislation to expel Romanian beggars was an act of jealousy is not known. Iceland has of course been through some rough patches economically, but what can a country whose population either riots, shrugs or skips work possibly have to be depressed about?

The further to the right, the richer.
The further up, the happier.

Sources: Gallup Pakistan: Global Barometer of Hope and Despair for 2011 on link, last visited 16.01.2011.
Pictures: 1, 2.