Top of the religion table

Following a new Eurobarometer survey measuring the social reality in Europe, The Universe newspaper in Manchester, UK, highlights the fact that, according to the survey, Maltese people are the most religous (and happiest) in the EU:

A survey conducted all over the European Union has shown that the people of the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo have emerged as the most religious people in the EU. The findings, released by the European Commission in its Eurobarometer survey on ‘European Social Reality’, has shown that 88 per cent of the Maltese consider religion as “a very important aspect” of their lives, topping the survey’s ‘religious’ table.

The survey, which included 26,755 people in the EU’s 27 member states, revealed that the Maltese are followed by the Cypriots (86 per cent) and Romanians (82 per cent). The least religious are the Czechs and the Danes, with 28 and 30 per cent respectively. The UK came in at 45 per cent and Ireland at 61 per cent. Overall, the survey showed that EU citizens are happy with their lives, with an average of 86 per cent expressing satisfaction. People from Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium say they are the happiest (97 per cent and 95 per cent), while Romanians and Bulgarians can be seen as the grumpiest, according to the new statistics.
Some 94 per cent of Malta’s population say they are happy.

Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom also scored above 90 per cent. At the bottom end, only 68 per cent of Hungary’s population consider themselves happy. Romania and Bulgaria are even worse off, with 60 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. The European Commission said the results of the survey would be fed into forthcoming policy initiatives including the review of the commission’s social agenda, later on this year.

Read the full survey report: European Social Reality (pdf)