ROME, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Italians were more satisfied with their lives in 2019 than in the previous year, the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) said in a new report titled "Citizens' Satisfaction with their Living Conditions" on Thursday.
According to the report, 43.2 percent of respondents said they are "highly satisfied" with their lives overall, up by 1.8 percentage point compared to 2018.
"Overall life satisfaction measures the extent to which individuals feel that their lives match their expectations," Istat analysts explained.
Also in the "highly satisfied" category, 68 percent said they were happy with how they spend their leisure time (up by 1.8 percentage point compared to 2018), 77 percent were happy with their jobs (up by 1 percentage point on 2018), and 56.5 percent reported satisfaction with their economic situation (rising by 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous year).
In addition, Istat noted that the number of Italians who feel most people are turstworthy improved slightly, from 21 percent in 2018 to 23.9 percent in 2019.
The report also showed a North-South divide, with 46.7 percent of respondents in Italy's northern regions describing themselves as "very satisfied" with their lives overall, against 42.3 percent in the central regions and 39.2 percent in the southern regions.
