Hoera! The Netherlands has the second-highest well-being levels in the EU

Fill in the blank: Nobody does […] like the Netherlands. Did ‘bikes’ jump to mind? Windmills? …Directness? What about well-being? The Netherlands now officially has the second-highest ‘broad prosperity’ in the EU.

Broad prosperity basically means the levels of well-being of people across various parts of the country, as well as material prosperity, the NOS explains.

And when it comes to such well-being, only the Swedes are outdoing the Dutchies.

It’s looking positive…

The prosperity investigation, conducted by CBS, measures each country’s performance across various lifestyle and social topics to rank their well-being.

The Netherlands scores highly on themes of work and leisure, with almost 75% feeling positive about their work-life balance.

READ MORE | The Netherlands just ranked as the 6th happiest country IN THE WORLD

And all of those unashamedly curtainless windows are paying off — the Dutchies are among the most trusting countries.

This is down to the high proportion of people in the Netherlands who have weekly contact with family, friends or neighbours.

…Unless you’re house-hunting (or a woman)

But not all friendly meet-ups are just about sharing a stroopwafel with a smile.

You may not be surprised to find out the Netherlands scores lower on housing costs, especially as Dutchies spend more of their income on housing than ever.

Another negative result was women’s health, as the Netherlands scores relatively low when it comes to ‘healthy life expectancy for women’. 🤷‍♀️

READ MORE | Being a feminist in the Netherlands: surprisingly, it’s a challenge

The official linEUp

Based on consistently ranking lowest across all themes, Croatia brings up the rear. Then Slovakia, Greece and Poland follow at the bottom.

And who joins us at the top of the table? Here are the 10 highest-scoring countries:

Are you surprised by these results? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.