EditorsIn the 2016 edition of the UN World Happiness Report, Denmark decidedly refused to budge from the top spot. The Swiss turned out to be the second happiest followed by Scandinavian countries Iceland, Norway and Finland. We don’t know what the Danes are inhaling, but we want some of it.
Factors like relatively high GDP, good healthy life expectancy and high levels of social support have propelled Denmark to the top spot. The US ranked 13th, Australia 9th, Germany 16th and UK came in at 23. It’s no surprise that Greece‘s happiness quotient has taken a hit, given its economic climate.
Syria and Burundi were the least happy, and it’s not hard to see why.
The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness and the 2016 update was released in Rome.
People’s health, access to medical care, family relations, job security, political freedom and levels of government corruption are all among the measures used to assess happiness. This year’s report included a new factor, where countries are ranked according to their citizens’ “equality of well-being”.
How does your country fare on this list?
1. Denmark 101. Mongolia
2. Switzerland 102. Laos
3. Iceland 103. Nigeria
4. Norway 104. Honduras
5. Finland 105. Iran
6. Canada 106. Zambia
7. Netherlands 107. Nepal
8. New Zealand 108. Palestinian Territories
9. Australia 109.Albania
10. Sweden 110. Bangladesh
11. Israel 111. Sierra Leone
12. Austria 112. Iraq
13. United States 113. Namibia
14. Costa Rica 114. Cameroon
15. Puerto Rico 115. Ethiopia
16. Germany 116. South Africa
17. Brazil 117. Sri Lanka
18. Belgium 118. India
19. Ireland 119. Myanmar
20. Luxembourg 120. Egypt
21. Mexico 121. Armenia
22. Singapore 122. Kenya
23. United Kingdom 123. Ukraine
24. Chile 124. Ghana
25. Panama 125. Congo (Kinshasa)
26. Argentina 126. Georgia
27. Czech Republic 127. Congo (Brazzaville)
28. United Arab Emirates 128. Senegal
29. Uruguay 129. Bulgaria
30. Malta 130. Mauritania
31. Colombia 131. Zimbabwe
32. France 132. Malawi
33. Thailand 133. Sudan
34. Saudi Arabia 134. Gabon
35. Taiwan 135. Mali
36. Qatar 136. Haiti
37. Spain 137. Botswana
38. Algeria 138. Comoros
39. Guatemala 139. Ivory Coast
40. Suriname 140. Cambodia
41. Kuwait 141. Angola
42. Bahrain 142. Niger
43. Trinidad & Tobago 143. South Sudan
44. Venezuela 144. Chad
45. Slovakia 145. Burkina Faso
46. El Salvador 146. Uganda
47. Malaysia 147. Yemen
48. Nicaragua 148. Madagascar
49. Uzbekistan 149. Tanzania
50. Italy 150. Liberia
51. Ecuador 151. Guinea
52. Belize 152. Rwanda
53. Japan 153. Benin
54. Kazakhstan 154. Afghanistan
55. Moldova 155. Togo
56. Russia 156. Syria
57. Poland 157. Burundi
58. South Korea
59. Bolivia
0. Lithuania
61. Belarus
62. North Cyprus
63. Slovenia
64. Peru
65. Turkmenistan
66. Mauritius
67. Libya
68. Latvia
69. Cyprus
70. Paraguay
71. Romania
72. Estonia
73. Jamaica
74. Croatia
75. Hong Kong
76. Somalia
77. Kosovo
78. Turkey
79. Indonesia
80. Jordan
81. Azerbaijan
82. Philippines
83. China
84. Bhutan
85. Kyrgyzstan
86. Serbia
87. Bosnia and Herzegovina
88. Montenegro
89. Dominican Republic
90. Morocco
91. Hungary
92. Pakistan
93. Lebanon
94. Portugal
95. Macedonia
96. Vietnam
97. Somaliland region
98. Tunisia
99. Greece
100. Tajikistan
