New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that people were happier with their lives last year compared to 2021 amid Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The CSO said that 28.9% of respondents to its Survey on Income and Living Conditions survey reported high levels of satisfaction with their overall life last year, up from 21.4% of people surveyed in 2021.
The CSO also said that the percentage of people reporting low overall life satisfaction decreased from 14% in 2021 to 10.2% in 2023.
Today's survey shows that 32.1% of male respondents and 25.9% of female respondents reported a high satisfaction level with their lives.
Female respondents were also more likely to report low overall life satisfaction - 12.3% compared with 8% of male respondents.
The survey reveals that 17.4% of female respondents felt downhearted or depressed at least sometimes in the four-week period before their interview with the CSO, down from 26.3% in 2021.
The comparable rate for male respondents was 12% in 2023, down from 17.8% in 2021.
Analysis of overall life satisfaction by age shows that in 2023, respondents aged 65 and older were more likely to report high satisfaction with their overall life.
The CSO said that 35.8% of this age group reported high overall life satisfaction compared with 26.7% of people aged 25 to 49 years.
Older respondents were also more likely to report high overall satisfaction with their financial situation, the amount of time they have available for enjoyable activities and with their personal relationships.
Today's figures show that 58.5% of people aged 65 years and older who described themselves as employed had a high satisfaction level with their job. This was about double the rates for people aged 50 to 64 (30.4%) and for people aged 25 to 49 (26.1%).
Meanwhile, 42.3% of self-employed respondents reported a high satisfaction level with their job. This compared to a rate for semi-state employees of 35.4%, 30.7% for public sector employees and 25.3% for private sector employees.
23% respondents living in owner-occupied accommodation reported high overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their household, while the comparable rate for respondents living in rented accommodation was over three times lower at 7.3%.
The CSO's Survey on Income and Living Conditions research is a household survey covering a broad range of topics relating to income and living conditions.
It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation. Results published in today's report relate to answers given directly by survey respondents aged 16 years and older.
