Washington D.C. - Morocco was named among the most hopeful nations according to a recent survey conducted by the WIN/Gallup International Association that interviewed people from 68 countries.
For the survey, titled the “Happiness International Index”, more than 66,040 people from 68 countries were polled. People were asked to answer the following question: "In general, do you personally feel very happy, happy, neither happy nor unhappy, unhappy or very unhappy about your life?"
Jean-Marc Leger, President of WIN/Gallup International Association, said: “2015 has been a tumultuous year for many across the globe, despite that the world remains largely a happy place.”
To rank hope globally, the poll divided the countries into three economic tiers and found that economic wealth did not correlate to economic optimism and hope.
The WIN/Gallup International grouped the world into three tiers: Prosperous (the G7); Emerging (G20 excluding the original G7) and Aspiring (all others) nations.
Despite the disparity in income levels across these three tiers, the study found that the level of net happiness was high across all three.
While the Prosperous countries have 42 percent happiness, the Emerging countries are happier with 59 percent happiness and Aspiring countries have 54 percent.
The findings on hope and economic optimism showed that Emerging countries had the most hope, while Prosperous countries had very low findings of hope.
Prosperous nations display the least hope and economic optimism with 6 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
Emerging nations are very hopeful about the future and far more optimistic about the economic outlook at 50 percent and 36 percent.
The Aspiring nations sit between the two with 29 percent hope and 16 percent economic optimism.
Bangladesh was considered the most hopeful, followed by China, Nigeria, Fiji, then Morocco.
"India, while among the top five most hopeful last year, dropped from the list this year.
Morocco, Nigeria, and Fiji remain among the top five most hopeful countries for both 2015 and 2016."
Hope in Morocco remains strong compared to other countries although it has dissipated.
Last year, over 75 percent of Moroccans believed that 2015 would be a better year than 2014. This year, 57 percent of Moroccans believe 2016 will be better.
As Morocco currently has a budget deficit, the government is balancing out its budget with cuts and reforms that have caused major protests.
Pension and teacher trainee reforms have recently caused protests against the government that may have created less hope among citizens.
According to a recent study, the economist predicted Morocco would still have a deficit in 2016, though there will be GDP growth. This means budget cuts and reforms may improve, but not dramatically.
More than half of Moroccan are still hopeful change may come, however.
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