As a probable reflection of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on people’s lives, data on overall life satisfaction in the EU show that in 2021, EU citizens were slightly less satisfied with their lives than in 2018. The EU average decreased by 0.1 points from 7.3 in 2018 to 7.2 in 2021 (on a scale from 0 for very dissatisfied to 10 for very satisfied). Even with that small decrease, this indicator remained high and above the 2013 average (7.0 points).
In 2021, life satisfaction was highest in Austria (8.0 points), Finland (7.9), Romania (7.7) and the Netherlands (7.6) and lowest in Bulgaria (5.7). Hungary also showed quite a low level of satisfaction (6.5) but higher than 6, which means satisfied rather than dissatisfied.