La Jornada: Life satisfaction improves in Mexico

In Mexico, the greater the difficulty in covering household expenses, the lower life satisfaction, evidenced by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), when presenting the results of the National Self-Reported Wellbeing Survey (Enbiare) 2025.

The survey that generates information on satisfaction with life, daily moods and purpose in life of the population aged 18 and over in the country, revealed that 19 percent of people with difficulty or great difficulty in covering the usual expenses at home have no or little satisfaction with life. Among the population that reported difficulty or great difficulty in covering the usual expenses in their home, two out of five indicated that they were totally satisfied with life; 36.8 percent, moderately satisfied; 14.2 percent were slightly satisfied, and 4.8 percent said they were not at all satisfied.

Those who indicated that it was easy or very easy for them to cover their usual expenses at home, seven out of 10 people were at the level of total satisfaction with life.

The Inegi revealed that in 2025, people in Mexico rated their satisfaction with their current life on average as 8.62, on a scale from zero to 10. In 2021, the previous version of Enbiare, the average satisfaction with their current life was lower (8.45).

People who speak indigenous languages ​​and those with some disability presented averages of life satisfaction lower than that of the national population (8.33 and 7.99, respectively).

In Coahuila, the highest average satisfaction with life was recorded (8.85) and in Oaxaca, the lowest (8.32).

Health determines your mood

Perceived health status is broadly related to life satisfaction and mood, the institute said.

And those who perceived their health as bad or very bad had an average of life satisfaction 1.85 points lower than those who perceived themselves to be in good or very good health. In the general emotional balance, the difference was 3.39 points.

The population that has good health has a current life satisfaction of 8.93, while those who have very poor health evaluate their satisfaction at 7.08. An issue to highlight, according to Inegi data, are the averages of satisfaction with life and general emotional balance for signs of anxiety, depression and frequency of loneliness.

People who reported feeling alone most or all of the time during the last month recorded averages of 7.49 for life satisfaction and 2.83 for general mood balance. The population with signs of depression registered an average general mood balance of 1.93, one of the lowest figures observed for this indicator. Thus, 26.8 percent of people with signs of depression in Mexico have no or little satisfaction with life. While with signs of depression it is 36.3 percent of adults in the country. Meanwhile, those who have no signs of depression are 62.7 percent.

Meanwhile, 3.7 percent of the population feels sadness or depression all day, contrary to the 77.7 percent who feel that sensation for none or a small part of the day.