World Happiness Report

World Happiness Report

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 Decrease -0.233
2  Norway 7.655 Increase 0.263
3   Switzerland 7.650 Increase 0.303
4  Netherlands 7.512 Increase 0.054
5  Sweden 7.480 Increase 0.171
6  Canada 7.477 Increase 0.032
7  Finland 7.389 Decrease -0.283
8  Austria 7.369 Increase 0.247
9  Iceland 7.355 N/A
10  Australia 7.350 Increase 0.040
11  Israel 7.301 Increase 0.293
12  Costa Rica 7.257 Steady 0.000
13  New Zealand 7.221 Decrease -0.210
14  United Arab Emirates 7.144 Increase 0.410
15  Panama 7.143 Increase 0.633
16  Mexico 7.088 Increase 0.535
17  United States 7.082 Decrease -0.283
18  Ireland 7.076 Decrease -0.068
19  Luxembourg 7.054 N/A
20  Venezuela 7.039 Increase 0.192
21  Belgium 6.967 Decrease -0.274
22  United Kingdom 6.883 Decrease -0.003
23  Oman 6.853 N/A
24  Brazil 6.849 Increase 0.371
25  France 6.764 Decrease -0.049
26  Germany 6.672 Increase 0.163
27  Qatar 6.666 N/A
28  Chile 6.587 Increase 0.708
29  Argentina 6.562 Increase 0.369
30  Singapore 6.546 Decrease -0.094
31  Trinidad and Tobago 6.519 Increase 0.687
32  Kuwait 6.515 Increase 0.440
33  Saudi Arabia 6.480 Decrease -0.692
34  Cyprus 6.466 Increase 0.228
35  Colombia 6.416 Increase 0.334
36  Thailand 6.371 Increase 0.527
37  Uruguay 6.355 Increase 0.615
38  Spain 6.322 Decrease -0.750
39  Czech Republic 6.290 Decrease -0.180
40  Suriname 6.269 N/A
41  South Korea 6.267 Increase 0.728
42  Taiwan 6.221 Increase 0.032
43  Japan 6.064 Decrease -0.303
44  Slovenia 6.060 Increase 0.249
45  Italy 6.021 Decrease -0.691
46  Slovakia 5.969 Increase 0.705
47  Guatemala 5.965 Decrease -0.148
48  Malta 5.964 N/A
49  Ecuador 5.865 Increase 0.855
50  Bolivia 5.857 Increase 0.357
51  Poland 5.822 Increase 0.085
52  El Salvador 5.809 Increase 0.313
53  Moldova 5.791 Increase 0.852
54  Paraguay 5.779 Increase 0.777
55  Peru 5.776 Increase 0.763
56  Malaysia 5.760 Decrease -0.377
57  Kazakhstan 5.671 Increase 0.074
58  Croatia 5.661 Decrease -0.160
59  Turkmenistan 5.628 N/A
60  Uzbekistan 5.623 Increase 0.390
61  Angola 5.589 Increase 1.438
62  Albania 5.550 Increase 0.915
63  Vietnam 5.533 Increase 0.173
64  Hong Kong 5.523 Increase 0.012
65  Nicaragua 5.507 Increase 0.800
66  Belarus 5.504 Decrease -0.133
67  Mauritius 5.477 N/A
68  Russia 5.464 Increase 0.346
69  North Cyprus 5.463 N/A
70  Greece 5.435 Decrease -0.891
71  Lithuania 5.426 Decrease -0.456
72  Estonia 5.426 Increase 0.074
73  Algeria 5.422 N/A
74  Jordan 5.414 Decrease -0.528
75  Jamaica 5.374 Decrease -0.833
76  Indonesia 5.348 Increase 0.329
77  Turkey 5.345 Increase 0.171
78  Libya 5.340 N/A
79  Bahrain 5.312 N/A
80  Montenegro 5.299 Increase 0.103
81  Pakistan 5.292 Decrease -0.214
82  Nigeria 5.248 Increase 0.448
83  Kosovo 5.222 Increase 0.118
84  Honduras 5.142 Decrease -0.103
85  Portugal 5.101 Decrease -0.305

See also

References

  1. “GNH Survey 2010”. The Centre for Bhutan Studies. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  2. Helliwell, John; Layard, Richard; Sachs, Jeffrey (April 2, 2012). World Happiness Report. Columbia University Earth Institute. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  3. Kyu Lee (2013-09-09). “Sustainable Development Solutions Network | World Happiness Report 2013”. unsdsn.org. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  4. World Happiness Report 2013 Ranks Happiest Countries Around Globe. Huffingtonpost.com. 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  5. 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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