World Happiness Report
The World Happiness Report is an annual measure of happiness published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. In July 2011, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution inviting member countries to measure the happiness of their people and to use this to help guide their public policies.
In April 2012 this was followed by the first UN Conference on Happiness and Well-being, which was chaired by the prime minister of Bhutan, the first and so far only country to have officially adopted gross national happiness instead of the gross domestic product as the main development indicator.[1]
At the same time the first World Happiness Report was released, just ahead of the conference. It drew international attention as the world’s first global happiness survey.[2] Some months later the OECD published guidelines laying out an international standard for the measurement of well-being. In september 2013 the second World Happiness Report offered the first annual follow-up.[3] Where the first report was based on all available data from the Gallup World Poll, from 2005-2011, the second report mainly used data from 2010-2012.
Leading experts in several fields – economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, and more – describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations. The report is edited by Professor John F. Helliwell, of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Lord Richard Layard, Director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Director of the SDSN, and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General.[4]
International rankings
On a scale running from 0 to 10, people in over 150 countries, surveyed by Gallup over the period 2010-12, reveal a population-weighted average score of 5.1 (out of 10). Six key variables explain three-quarters of the variation in annual national average scores over time and among countries. These six factors include: real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and generosity.[5]
2013 ranking (2010-12 surveys)
Rank | Country | Happiness | Change in happiness from 2005-07 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Denmark | 7.693 | -0.233 |
2 | Norway | 7.655 | 0.263 |
3 | Switzerland | 7.650 | 0.303 |
4 | Netherlands | 7.512 | 0.054 |
5 | Sweden | 7.480 | 0.171 |
6 | Canada | 7.477 | 0.032 |
7 | Finland | 7.389 | -0.283 |
8 | Austria | 7.369 | 0.247 |
9 | Iceland | 7.355 | N/A |
10 | Australia | 7.350 | 0.040 |
11 | Israel | 7.301 | 0.293 |
12 | Costa Rica | 7.257 | 0.000 |
13 | New Zealand | 7.221 | -0.210 |
14 | United Arab Emirates | 7.144 | 0.410 |
15 | Panama | 7.143 | 0.633 |
16 | Mexico | 7.088 | 0.535 |
17 | United States | 7.082 | -0.283 |
18 | Ireland | 7.076 | -0.068 |
19 | Luxembourg | 7.054 | N/A |
20 | Venezuela | 7.039 | 0.192 |
21 | Belgium | 6.967 | -0.274 |
22 | United Kingdom | 6.883 | -0.003 |
23 | Oman | 6.853 | N/A |
24 | Brazil | 6.849 | 0.371 |
25 | France | 6.764 | -0.049 |
26 | Germany | 6.672 | 0.163 |
27 | Qatar | 6.666 | N/A |
28 | Chile | 6.587 | 0.708 |
29 | Argentina | 6.562 | 0.369 |
30 | Singapore | 6.546 | -0.094 |
31 | Trinidad and Tobago | 6.519 | 0.687 |
32 | Kuwait | 6.515 | 0.440 |
33 | Saudi Arabia | 6.480 | -0.692 |
34 | Cyprus | 6.466 | 0.228 |
35 | Colombia | 6.416 | 0.334 |
36 | Thailand | 6.371 | 0.527 |
37 | Uruguay | 6.355 | 0.615 |
38 | Spain | 6.322 | -0.750 |
39 | Czech Republic | 6.290 | -0.180 |
40 | Suriname | 6.269 | N/A |
41 | South Korea | 6.267 | 0.728 |
42 | Taiwan | 6.221 | 0.032 |
43 | Japan | 6.064 | -0.303 |
44 | Slovenia | 6.060 | 0.249 |
45 | Italy | 6.021 | -0.691 |
46 | Slovakia | 5.969 | 0.705 |
47 | Guatemala | 5.965 | -0.148 |
48 | Malta | 5.964 | N/A |
49 | Ecuador | 5.865 | 0.855 |
50 | Bolivia | 5.857 | 0.357 |
51 | Poland | 5.822 | 0.085 |
52 | El Salvador | 5.809 | 0.313 |
53 | Moldova | 5.791 | 0.852 |
54 | Paraguay | 5.779 | 0.777 |
55 | Peru | 5.776 | 0.763 |
56 | Malaysia | 5.760 | -0.377 |
57 | Kazakhstan | 5.671 | 0.074 |
58 | Croatia | 5.661 | -0.160 |
59 | Turkmenistan | 5.628 | N/A |
60 | Uzbekistan | 5.623 | 0.390 |
61 | Angola | 5.589 | 1.438 |
62 | Albania | 5.550 | 0.915 |
63 | Vietnam | 5.533 | 0.173 |
64 | Hong Kong | 5.523 | 0.012 |
65 | Nicaragua | 5.507 | 0.800 |
66 | Belarus | 5.504 | -0.133 |
67 | Mauritius | 5.477 | N/A |
68 | Russia | 5.464 | 0.346 |
69 | North Cyprus | 5.463 | N/A |
70 | Greece | 5.435 | -0.891 |
71 | Lithuania | 5.426 | -0.456 |
72 | Estonia | 5.426 | 0.074 |
73 | Algeria | 5.422 | N/A |
74 | Jordan | 5.414 | -0.528 |
75 | Jamaica | 5.374 | -0.833 |
76 | Indonesia | 5.348 | 0.329 |
77 | Turkey | 5.345 | 0.171 |
78 | Libya | 5.340 | N/A |
79 | Bahrain | 5.312 | N/A |
80 | Montenegro | 5.299 | 0.103 |
81 | Pakistan | 5.292 | -0.214 |
82 | Nigeria | 5.248 | 0.448 |
83 | Kosovo | 5.222 | 0.118 |
84 | Honduras | 5.142 | -0.103 |
85 | Portugal | 5.101 | -0.305 |
See also
- Genuine progress indicator
- Gross national happiness
- Happiness economics
- Happy Planet Index
- Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare
- OECD Better Life Index
- Philosophy of happiness
- Social Progress Index
References
- “GNH Survey 2010”. The Centre for Bhutan Studies. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- Helliwell, John; Layard, Richard; Sachs, Jeffrey (April 2, 2012). World Happiness Report. Columbia University Earth Institute. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- Kyu Lee (2013-09-09). “Sustainable Development Solutions Network | World Happiness Report 2013”. unsdsn.org. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- World Happiness Report 2013 Ranks Happiest Countries Around Globe. Huffingtonpost.com. 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- Helliwell, John; Layard, Richard; Sachs, Jeffrey (September 9, 2013). World Happiness Report 2013. United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
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