In a Central Statistics Office (CSO) survey on income and living conditions (SILC) 2023, 28.9% of people aged 16 and up reported a high level of satisfaction with their overall life.

This is up from 24.4% in 2022 and 21.4% in 2021.

Life satisfaction

Almost one in three men (32.1%) reported their overall life satisfaction level as high, compared with one in four (25.9%) women.

One in ten (10.2%) male respondents reported feeling lonely at least sometimes in the four-week period prior to their SILC interview.

The comparable rate for female respondents was almost twice that at 18.0%.

Just over one in five (21.4%) male respondents reported a low satisfaction level with the time they have available for enjoyable activities, compared with more than one in four (26.6%) female respondents.

More than four in ten (42.3%) self-employed respondents reported a high satisfaction level with their job.

The comparable rate for semi-state employees was 35.4%, 30.7% for public sector employees, and 25.3% for private sector employees.

Overall, 15.2% of unemployed respondents reported they do not have somebody outside their household they can ask for help.

The comparable rate for retirees was 4.2%.

Almost one in four (23.0%) respondents living in owner-occupied accommodation reported high overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their household.

The comparable rate for respondents living in rented accommodation was over three times lower at 7.3%.