Study: Germany back to its old level of happiness

What is always decisive for successful gambling? Of course - luck! Despite all the strategies, tricks and gimmicks, a good dose of luck is often the most important factor in winning at slots, sports betting, lotteries, etc. It doesn't work without luck - and luck often comes from being lucky. Or does it? What is the state of luck in Germany? The SKL Glücksatlas answers this question year after year. The latest edition actually shows a clear positive trend. Germans are apparently returning to the happiness levels of the 2010s before the pandemic.

Luck is an extremely important factor in life - it is also at the centre of gambling success. Despite ingenious strategies, such as RTP considerations, odds comparisons or optimised money management, in the end it is luck that decides who wins.

But how lucky are people in Germany? The latest SKL Glücksatlas provides some exciting answers. After the years of the pandemic, the country appears to have returned to the life satisfaction levels of the 2010s - a clear upward trend.

Even if the Happiness Atlas does not, of course, make any direct statements about the connection between life satisfaction and gambling, it still offers exciting points of reference. Being happier could promote optimism - an important factor that repeatedly determines success or failure in the world of lotteries, sports betting and slots. The theory: if you live a happier life, you might also have that crucial bit more luck in the game. Perhaps you have actually noticed a certain increase in your (gambling) confidence over the past year?

A new high: life satisfaction on the way up

After the challenging years of the pandemic, Germans' life satisfaction is returning to the positive trend path of the 2010s.

According to the SKL Happiness Atlas 2024, the average subjective satisfaction score in Germany reached 7.06 points on a scale of 0 (‘not at all satisfied’) to 10 (‘completely satisfied’). This represents an increase of 0.14 points compared to the previous year and marks the highest value since the start of the coronavirus crisis. Even if the overall record value of 7.14 points from 2019 has not yet been reached again, the trend signals a significant improvement.

For many Germans, the crises of 2020 to 2023 appear to have been overcome in terms of their life satisfaction.

Income and inflation: a cautious recovery

Satisfaction with one's own household income, a key indicator of general enjoyment of life, also shows a clear upward trend.  After falling from 7.18 to 6.49 points between 2019 and 2022, the value rose by 0.17 points to 6.81 in 2024.

Reasons for the improvement:

1. Declining inflation: after the extreme inflation rates of 2021 and 2022, the price trend eased (albeit only slowly).
2. High wage settlements: These helped to offset real wage losses and stabilise disposable income.
3. Economic recovery: A more stable economic situation also contributed to the positive development.

Focus on families: slow upward trend

Family satisfaction has increased slightly since its low point in 2021 (7.17 points) and reached 7.53 points in 2024. However, this value is well below the pre-coronavirus level of 8.02 points.

The reasons are complex:

1. Pandemic consequences: The long-term effects of the crisis continue to weigh on family harmony.
2. Increased cost of living: Households with children are particularly affected by higher prices for everyday goods.
3. Labour market and childcare: The shortage of skilled workers and more difficult childcare conditions are having a negative impact on the everyday lives of many families.

Job satisfaction: Working from home as a turning point

Job satisfaction is slowly recovering from its low point in 2021 (6.90 points) and stands at 7.13 points in 2024. This brings it back to the level of 2015 to 2018, but remains below the pre-coronavirus peak of 7.38 points.

Factors for the recovery:

1. Making the world of work more flexible: the increased availability of home office options is improving the work-life balance of many employees.
2. Better work-life balance: Flexible working models allow employees to organise their working day more individually.

Happiness comparison of the federal states: Hamburg in the lead

Hamburg takes the top position in the federal state ranking of the Happiness Atlas 2024 with 7.38 points. The Hanseatic city even surpasses its own pre-corona score from 2019 (7.27 points).

Hamburg's strengths:

1. High economic strength: A stable labour market and good salaries ensure satisfaction.
2. Excellent healthcare: The city scores highly with a strong healthcare system.
3. Education and childcare: Good schools and childcare facilities strengthen the well-being of young families.

Bavaria (7.23 points) and Schleswig-Holstein (7.23 points) follow in second and third place. While Bavaria benefits from its high level of prosperity and strong regional identity, the philosophy of life plays a decisive role in Schleswig-Holstein: ‘Hygge’, the Danish concept of cosiness and comfort, characterises the attitude to life of people between the North and Baltic Seas, according to the atlas.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (6.17 points) and Berlin (6.63 points) are at the bottom of the ranking. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in particular, where satisfaction in rural areas falls below the 6-point mark in some cases, it is clear that structural challenges such as low economic strength and a shrinking population are having a massive impact on happiness levels.

Is it possible to draw a link between increased happiness and gambling success in Germany?

But now we want to know a little more precisely: Is it possible to recognise certain patterns when looking at luck in gambling and general happiness in Germany? We will use two current lottery statistics from Statista as a basis for comparison:

1. Number of big wins in the German Lotto and Totoblock (from 1 million euros) in 2023 by federal state
2. Largest Lotto 6aus49 jackpots by prize amount (in millions of euros) in recent years

Number of big wins in the German Lotto and Totoblock 2023 by federal state

According to Statista, North Rhine-Westphalia recorded the most big wins of at least one million euros in 2023, followed by Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein are in the midfield together with Berlin. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania leads the bottom third. In fact, well over 100 new lottery millionaires are made every year. Unfortunately, fraud attempts are also on the rise - for example, a supposed lottery winner from Baden-Württemberg was cheated out of 30,000 euros.

Biggest lottery jackpots by prize amount in recent years

The highest individual winnings in LOTTO 6aus49 in recent years were:

1. 48.6 million euros in January 2024 in Bavaria.
2. 45 million euros in April 2023 in Hamburg.
3. 45 million euros in April 2022 in Hesse.

Analysis

As expected, there is no clear link between happiness and gambling success.

Conclusion

The SKL Happiness Atlas 2024 shows a welcome return of life satisfaction in Germany to pre-pandemic levels. Despite progress, the recovery in areas such as income and family satisfaction remains unevenly distributed in some cases.

A possible connection between personal happiness and gambling success is speculative, as the lottery statistics tend to be characterised by coincidence and regional differences. Nevertheless, the results are thought-provoking: While luck in everyday life is becoming increasingly measurable, luck in gambling remains a mystery - and that is precisely what makes it so fascinating.

Image source: Screenshot von https://www.skl-gluecksatlas.de/artikel/gluecksatlas-2024.html