Hong Kong more miserable than many of its neighbours, index shows

Hong Kong, billed as Asia's World City, is more miserable than many other places in the region - including mainland China - according to an American think tank. But it is still one of the least miserable places on earth, research by the libertarian Cato Institute found.

A Hong Kong economist laughed off the findings, saying the study relied too heavily on economic rather than social indicators such as freedom and democracy.

City University economics professor Dr Li Kui-wai said it was too simplistic to link misery with economic performance.

"The index takes into account mainly economic indicators," Li said. "But we should not overlook other social factors such as freedoms and democracy when we judge if a place is miserable or not."

On the index, the higher the rating, the greater the misery.

Researchers gave Hong Kong a rating of 10.1, making it less miserable than 75 other surveyed regions, but more so than mainland China, whose 7.9 rating put it in 83rd place.

Least miserable of the 90 nations and territories ranked was Japan (5.41), followed by Uzbekistan (5.7) and then Taiwan (6.13) in 88th place.