Once again, Filipinos have proven that they are some of the most optimistic people in the world.
A survey released by Zurich-based Gallup International Association this week revealed that the Philippines is the third happiest out of 55 countries.
The study asked respondents from all over the world to answer questions about happiness, hope, and economic optimism and the Philippines landed in the top 10 for all three categories.
To measure people’s happiness, they were asked the question: “In general, do you personally feel very happy, happy, neither happy nor unhappy, unhappy or very unhappy about your life?”
The Philippines got a net score of +84, making it the third happiest country in the world, below Fiji and Colombia which landed the top two spots.
Filipinos were also found to be hopeful about the future. When asked, “As far as you’re concerned, do you think that 2018 will be better, worse or the same as 2017?” the Philippines got a net score of +40 or 9th most optimistic in the world. Indonesia, with a net score of +67 was named the most optimistic country.
The survey also measured economic optimism in each country through the question, “Compared to this year, in your opinion, will next year be a year of economic prosperity, economic difficulty or remain the same for your country?”
The Philippines turned out to be the fifth most optimistic about its economy with a +32 net score. Nigeria, with a net score of +59 was number one.
These findings are consistent with a survey released by local research institution Social Weather Stations (SWS) late last year.
The SWS survey found that although Filipinos are experiencing more hunger, most are still optimistic about the country’s future.
But the Filipino’s disposition is different from the world in general. The same Gallup survey found that only 59 percent of those surveyed said they were happy, a 9 percent drop from last year’s 68 percent.
Gallup’s end-of-year survey interviewed more than 53,000 respondents from 55 countries and was held from October – December 2017.
