Kiwis give thumbs up to life

Five out of six New Zealanders rate their life satisfaction at least ‘‘seven out of 10’’, according to a Statistics New Zealand survey of the nation’s wellbeing.

The survey of nearly 9000 Kiwis suggests we are the fifth most content out of 35 developed countries that have asked the same questions, behind Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark.

People were quizzed about their health, relationships, money issues and housing between March last year and April this year.

Almost two-thirds said they had enough money for their everyday needs and only one in 20 said they had ‘‘no good outcomes’’ on any of the four topics.

Four out of five Kiwis said they had a strong sense of belonging to New Zealand.

Just under 11 per cent of those surveyed said they did not have enough money to pay for necessities such as food, housing and clothing. That was down from 15 per cent when Statistics NZ asked the same question in 2008, and was little changed on 2014.

The proportion of people who said they had more than enough money increased from 2008 but was also little changed on three years ago.

Statistics NZ manager Rosemary Goodyear said the survey was designed to go beyond traditional economic measurements, such as GDP, and examine people’s ‘‘life satisfaction’’. She said it was striking that ‘‘freedom, rights and peace’’ as well as scenery and environment were rated most highly when people were asked what defined New Zealand.

From the three main centres, Aucklanders reported the greatest life satisfaction but the lowest sense of purpose.