Happiness during each prime minister's tenure

Every prime minister since 1991, ranked by how the happiness changed from their first day in office. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.

#	Prime minister	In office	Total	Per year	Chart
1	Jacinda Ardern	26 Oct 2017 – 25 Jan 2023	−0.28 steps 2017 → 2022	−0.06 steps/yr

Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last count complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that count had no data, or because the period cut it); Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in steps; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. steps, 0 to 10 on the life ladder · World Happiness Report, Figure 2.1 data (Gallup World Poll): life evaluation, the national average answer to Gallup's question of where on a ladder from 0 (the worst possible life) to 10 (the best) people stand today; each point the average of three years of surveys, dated at the middle one, with the WHR's 95 % interval from 2019; 2013 is not published · New Zealand data · as of Jul 2026.