Despite raging wars and crippling crises: More than half of the world are optimistic about 2015, two thirds are satisfied with their lives. These are the results of the WIN’s latest End of Year Survey. Nevertheless, the answers of those polled highly depended on their respective country of origin.

For 38 years, leading global market research network WIN has been asking people around the world about their levels of satisfaction and personal and financial expectations in its End of Year survey. More than 64,000 people in 65 countries were interviewed at the end of 2014. As the German network partner, market research company Produkt + Markt, based in Wallenhorst near Osnabrück, carried out the survey in Germany.

This representative survey of 65 countries on personal expectations for 2015 shows that most people (53 per cent) are optimistic about the year ahead. 70 per cent of those polled worldwide also stated that they were satisfied with their life.

The results of the international study are gratifying, surprising and reveal marked differences between countries. Fiji, for instance, was the happiest country in the world in 2014 with 93 per cent of inhabitants stating they were satisfied. Less surprisingly, at the other end of the happiness scale 31 per cent of people in Iraq class themselves as unhappy or very unhappy.

There appears to be no link between financial expectations and personal satisfaction: only 42 per cent of all those surveyed worldwide, 70 per cent of whom state they are happy, expect to see an improvement in their financial circumstances in 2015. In Western Europe, only 12 per cent, and in Germany – one of the most stable and financially sound countries – only 10 per cent, expect 2015 to bring economic prosperity. Greece, however, shows that there is indeed a correlation between the economic situation and personal satisfaction, with 24 per cent describing themselves as unhappy or very unhappy.

Encouraging examples of happiness, satisfaction and optimism are provided by countries which are globally perceived as being troubled, namely those in Africa: 83 per cent of Africans interviewed stated that they were satisfied with their life and 75 per cent expected that 2015 would be a better year than 2014 – in both cases these are the highest values worldwide. In Europe, there is little evidence of this optimism, with 26 per cent of all Western Europeans expecting 2015 to be worse than 2014. In Germany, 28 per cent believe this year will be better than last year, only 19 per cent think it will be worse.

Produkt + Markt analysed the German survey results and mood based on categories including age, gender, level of education and state of health. It is hardly surprising that respondents who considered themselves healthy viewed the coming year with significantly more optimism (33 per cent) than those with health issues (18 per cent). Overall, the mood in Germany is more positive than last year – 59 per cent of Germans now say that they are satisfied. The percentage of women who are satisfied is somewhat higher than men, with younger people slightly more satisfied than the older people surveyed.

About the study design:

The End of Year (EoY) survey is a market research tradition that was established in 1977 and has been carried out regularly ever since. This year, market research network WIN collected data in 65 countries from 64,002 people. In each country, a representative comparable group of approximately 1,000 men and women were interviewed online, by telephone or face-to-face. Data collection took place from September to December 2014, and was carried out in Germany by WIN member Produkt + Markt.

 

Press contacts:

Produkt + Markt
Otto-Lilienthal-Straße 15
49134 Wallenhorst
Germany

www.produktundmarkt.com

Claudia Greischel / Division Director, Consumer & Retail Research

cgreischel@ProduktundMarkt.de

Tel.: +49 (0)5407 8850