Gallup poll finds Israel 7th-most thriving country

Sixty-three percent of Israelis consider themselves to be "thriving" versus only 14% of those in the Palestinian territories; Denmark tops list.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
israel flag draped 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
israel flag draped 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Israel is the world's seventh-most "thriving" country, according to a Gallup poll of 1,000 adults in each of 124 countries whose results were released last week.
Gallup classifies respondents' well-being as "thriving," "struggling," or "suffering," according to how they rated their current and future lives on a ladder scale with steps numbered from 0 to 10.
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Majorities of residents in only 19 countries rated their lives well enough to be classified as thriving. Denmark, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Venezuela, Finland, Israel and New Zealand led the list.
The countries the worst off were the Central African Republic, Haiti, and Chad. The US finished twelfth, four percentage points behind Israel.
Among Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar ranked highest with 55% and 53% of respondents considering themselves thriving.
The Palestinian territories had a rate of only 14% thriving versus Israel's 63%.