The well-being of Hong Kong residents rates among the worst in the world, according to a survey conducted by consulting firm Gallup.
The 2014 Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index ranked Hong Kong 120th out of 145 countries and regions surveyed.
The index is composed of five elements of well-being – physical, social, financial, community and purpose. More than 146,000 people aged 15 and above were surveyed. Each of them was asked to say how much they agreed with the following statements:
Purpose: You like what you do every day; You learn or do something interesting every day.
Social: Someone in your life always encourages you to be healthy; Your friends and family give you positive energy every day.
Financial: You have enough money to do everything you want to do; In the last seven days, you have worried about money.
Community: The city or area where you live is a perfect place for you; In the last 12 months, you have received recognition for helping to improve the city or area where you live.
Physical: In the last seven days, you have felt active and productive every day; Your physical health is near-perfect.
Panama, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico were the top three countries in overall well-being with 53%, 47.6% and 45.8% of their residents thriving respectively. Americas including northern and southern American countries scored high on the list while Asian countries were generally on the low end.
Only 8.6% of Hong Kong residents are thriving overall. In terms of financial well-being, HK is no.23. In terms of purpose, social, community and physical well-being, HK is no. 140, no. 134, no. 108 and no. 140 respectively.
Singapore beats HK in all five areas, scoring no. 9 in financial well-being and no. 97 in overall well-being.
South Korea is no. 117, Taiwan no. 59, the US no. 23, and China no. 127. Afghanistan tails the list with 0% of residents thriving.
