Happiness Atlas…Germans’ Life satisfaction Sees Continuous Growth

 A horse-drawn carriage makes its way on the snowy Rennsteig hiking path in Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest region, central Germany. Martin Schutt/AFP
A horse-drawn carriage makes its way on the snowy Rennsteig hiking path in Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest region, central Germany. Martin Schutt/AFP
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Happiness Atlas…Germans’ Life satisfaction Sees Continuous Growth

 A horse-drawn carriage makes its way on the snowy Rennsteig hiking path in Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest region, central Germany. Martin Schutt/AFP
A horse-drawn carriage makes its way on the snowy Rennsteig hiking path in Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest region, central Germany. Martin Schutt/AFP

“Happiness Atlas”, which is an annual study conducted to measure Germans' happiness level, showed that German satisfaction with their life in general remains high.

According to the study, which was published in Munich, the level of life satisfaction among Germans has hit 7.07 on a scale from 0 to 10 this year, compared to 7.11 degrees last year.

The German news agency said the study’s authors considered that the slight decline in the ratio was triggered by a statistical fear of recording the same rate.

The study, commissioned by the Deutsche Post for the seventh year in a row, is about a long-term assessment of the lives of the involved individuals, their wishes, goals and expectations.

Bernd Raffelhüsen, the co-author of the study, said the high German satisfaction with life has been driven by the positive economic development, lower rates of unemployment and higher wages.

According to the study, the happiest citizens in Germany were in the state of Schleswig-Holstein (7.43 points), while the state of Saxony-Anhalt comes in last place (6.83 points).

Satisfaction with life in the eastern states hit 6.89 points, slightly higher than in 2004 (6.3 points). Satisfaction in Western states remained stable at 7.11 points.

"The standards of life are still not equal, but there are many things that have happened," Raffelhüsen said, adding that the widespread perception of continued frustration in the eastern states was not confirmed by the figures.



Brazil Fires Drive Acceleration in Amazon Deforestation

Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File
Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File
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Brazil Fires Drive Acceleration in Amazon Deforestation

Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File
Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File

A record fire season in Brazil last year caused the rate of deforestation to accelerate, in a blow to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pledge to protect the Amazon rainforest, official figures showed Friday.

The figures released by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which tracks forest cover by satellite, indicated that deforestation rate between August 2024 and May 2025 rose by 9.1 percent compared to the same period in 2023-2024, said AFP.

And they showed a staggering 92-percent increase in Amazon deforestation in May, compared to the year-ago period.

That development risks erasing the gains made by Brazil in 2024, when deforestation slowed in all of its ecological biomes for the first time in six years.

The report showed that beyond the Amazon, the picture was less alarming in other biomes across Brazil, host of this year's UN climate change conference.

In the Pantanal wetlands, for instance, deforestation between August 2024 and May 2025 fell by 77 percent compared to the same period in 2023-2024.

Presenting the findings, the environment ministry's executive secretary Joao Paulo Capobianco chiefly blamed the record number of fires that swept Brazil and other South American countries last year, whipped up by a severe drought.

Many of the fires were started to clear land for crops or cattle and then raged out of control.