How much money do you need to be carefree happy? An evaluation of data from over 170 countries comes to some surprising results.
You can’t buy happiness with money, but it still makes many things easier. But how much money do you need to lead a largely carefree life? Of course, there is no general answer to this question, as it can be very subjective.
However, there is an objectively definable limit – a certain level of income at which further increases in income no longer have an impact on a person’s happiness.
The online money exchange bank S Money evaluated the data from 173 countries and determined this saturation point of income per country. The analysis reveals some surprising findings.
In Iran, happiness costs a lot of money
The analysis by S Money shows that you need a lot of money to be happy in Iran – namely an annual income of around 223,300 euros. With a gross national income of around 3,140 euros (as of 2020), it is more of a utopia than a norm in Iran. The country tops the list of countries.
In Sierra Leone in West Africa, however, an annual income of around 8,070 euros is enough to be happy. What sounds like comparatively little money to Germans is still out of reach for many people from Sierra Leone. The country has a gross national income per capita of just under 475 euros (as of 2021) and is one of the poorest countries in the world.
With that much annual income you are happy in Germany
And how much money do you need at least in Germany to be financially worry-free? According to statistics, you need an annual income of around 76,370 euros in this country. Compared to other countries, reality and the ideal in Germany are not that far apart. In 2021, the gross national income per capita was 51,040 euros.
In Europe, Norway is at the top of the ranking. Anyone who earns at least around 109,700 euros a year in the Scandinavian country lives comfortably. This puts Norway in fifth place in the overall ranking, closely followed by Switzerland (107,850 euros).
