S . Korea ' s welfare improves , but happiness does not : study SEOUL , April 5 ( Yonhap ) -- South Korea ' s state of welfare has improved somewhat over the past five years , but the level of happiness felt by the people has fallen , research said Wednesday . Such results are the conclusions of a study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs ( KIHASA ) , which derives the " KIHASA - Chosun Welfare Index " examining the level of well - being in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development including South Korea . The latest research measured 34 nations in five areas -- economic vitality , fiscal sustainability , welfare needs , welfare fulfillment and national happiness -- using 23 indicators . South Korea ' s score in well - being rose to put it at 21 st among the studied countries , up two notches from 2011 . In terms of national happiness , which considered factors such as satisfaction with life , suicide rates and life expectancy , the score fell to bring South Korea down to 33 rd in the ranking from 30 th . Satisfaction with life ranked 27 th , the same ranking for national transparency . South Korea placed last for both suicide and fertility rates . Availability of personal time ranked 25 th , while life expectancy ranked 10 th . Economic vitality , which measures per capita GDP , labor productivity and economic growth , fell from 6 th to 8 th . Fiscal sustainability , which reflects national debt level and public financial burdens , stayed the same at 3 rd . Welfare needs , which measures the Gini coefficient , income distribution and economic misery , placed 10 th , up from 12 th . Welfare fulfillment ranking rose from 32 nd to 28 th . " From the economic perspective , the indices for economic vitality , fiscal sustainability and welfare fulfillment are improving , but national happiness has dropped . The level of welfare that people can actually feel won ' t have changed much , " the report said . ( END )