February 25, 2019 (Bigthink.com)

Countries with more butter have happier citizens. On the vertical axis of this graph is the self-reported levels of life satisfaction in countries worldwide. On the horizontal axis is the per capita supply of butter.

Countries like Haiti, Cameroon, Malawi and Madagascar have 0-3.5 ounces of butter per person and report low life satisfaction.

The reverse is true for countries like Iceland, Canada and Australia, which score high in both categories, enjoying more than 2.2 pounds of butter per person and reporting sky-high levels of happiness.
This chart is an unofficial release by Our World in Data and while the link is clear, the meaning is more slippery.

Is it correlation or causation?

A Facebook commenter noted: “They also have more money, fresher air, smaller population.”

Another theory? Countries with less butter are less happy because all their butter is used for buttering politicians, comments Souvik Nath.

Of course, there are outliers in the data: Shout out to Salvadorans make do with less than 3.5oz of butter per year, yet report life satisfaction between 6 and 7 out of 10. Despite getting their hands on less than 2lbs of butter per year, Mexicans score near the top of the league when it comes to happiness.