Sweden vs United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Share of people who say they are happy

Sweden
93.8%
in 2022
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
91.5%
in 2022
Sweden rank
3rd
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank
5th

Share of people who say they are happy over time

  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
020406080100198420032022

How they compare

Sweden currently reports 93.8% against 91.5% in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a difference of 2.3%.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 5 shared years of data; in 1984 it was United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ahead.

Sweden ranks 3rd and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 5th of 39 countries.

Across the 4 decades both report, Sweden averaged higher in 2 and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade Sweden United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Difference Ahead
1980s 93.8% 95.0% 1.2% United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1990s 94.7% 90.7% 3.9% Sweden
2010s 91.6% 92.5% 0.9% United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2020s 93.8% 91.5% 2.3% Sweden

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher share of people who say they are happy, Sweden or United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Sweden, at 93.8% against 91.5% in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as of 2022.
What is the difference in share of people who say they are happy between Sweden and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
2.3%, with Sweden ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Sweden and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
5 years are reported by both, from 1984 to 2022.
How do Sweden and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank globally for share of people who say they are happy?
Sweden ranks 3rd and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 5th of 39 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Integrated Values Surveys (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of people who say they are happy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Sweden vs United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Share of people who say they are happy. Statizoid, drawing on Integrated Values Surveys (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/share-of-people-who-say-they-are-happy/sweden/united-kingdom/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/share-of-people-who-say-they-are-happy/sweden/united-kingdom/">Sweden vs United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Share of people who say they are happy</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of people who say they are happy
Unit
%
Source
Integrated Values Surveys (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
39 places, 224 data points, 1984–2022
Last refreshed

% of respondents replying "very happy" or "quite happy" when asked "Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, quite happy, not very happy or not at all happy?"