World Happiness Report

The World Happiness Report is a 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. On April 2, 2012, this was followed by the first UN High Level Meeting on "Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm," which was chaired by Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan, the first and so far only country to have officially adopted gross national happiness instead of gross domestic product as their main development indicator.^[1]

The first World Happiness Report was released on April 1, 2012 as a foundational text for the meeting. It drew international attention as the world's first global happiness survey.^[2] The report outlined the state of world happiness, causes of happiness and misery, and policy implications highlighted by case studies. In September 2013 the second World Happiness Report offered the first annual follow-up and reports are now issued every year.^[3] The report uses data from the Gallup World Poll. Each annual report is available to the public on the World Happiness Report website.

In the reports, 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. Each report is organized by chapters that delve deeper into issues relating to happiness, including mental illness, the objective benefits of happiness, the importance of ethics, policy implications, and links with the OECD's approach to measuring subjective well-being and the Human Development Report.

International rankings

Data is collected from people in over 150 countries. Each variable measured reveals a populated-weighted average score on a scale running from 0 to 10 that is tracked over time and compared against other countries. These variables currently include: real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. Each country is also compared against a hypothetical nation called Dystopia. Dystopia represents the lowest national averages for each key variable and is, along with residual error, used as a regression benchmark.

2016 ranking ^[4]

Legend:

Explained by: GDP per capita

Explained by: Social support

Explained by: Healthy life expectancy

Explained by: Freedom to make life choices

Explained by: Generosity

Trust or absence of corruption, as explained by the publicly perceived absence of corruption in government and business^[5]

Italics: States with limited recognition and disputed territories

Overall Rank ^[6]^[7]	Country	Score	Change Over Prior Year
1	Denmark	7.526	-0.401
2	Switzerland	7.509	0.035
3	Iceland	7.501	0.000
4	Norway	7.498	0.082
5	Finland	7.413	-0.259
6	Canada	7.404	-0.041
7	Netherlands	7.339	-0.119
8	New Zealand	7.334	-0.097
9	Australia	7.313	0.002
10	Sweden	7.291	-0.017
11	Austria	7.119	-0.003
12	Israel^{[Note 1]}	7.104	-0.261
13	United States	7.087	-0.171
14	Puerto Rico	7.039	0.446
15	Germany	6.994	0.486
17	Brazil	6.952	0.474
18	Belgium	6.929	-0.311
19	Ireland	6.907	-0.238
20	Luxembourg	6.871	0.000
21	Mexico	6.778	0.225
22	Singapore	6.739	0.099
23	United Kingdom	6.725	-0.161
24	Chile	6.705	0.826
25	Panama	6.701	0.191
26	Argentina	6.650	0.457
27	Czech Republic	6.596	0.126
28	United Arab Emirates	6.573	-0.161
29	Uruguay	6.545	0.804
30	Malta	6.488	0.000
31	Colombia	6.481	0.399
32	France	6.478	-0.336
33	Thailand	6.474	0.631
34	Costa Rica	6.379	-0.794
35	Republic of China (Taiwan)^{[Note 2]}^{[Note 3]}	6.379	0.190
36	Qatar	6.375	0.000
37	Spain	6.361	-0.711
38	Algeria	6.355	0.000
39	Guatemala	6.324	0.211
40	Suriname	6.269	0.000
41	Kuwait	6.239	0.164
42	Bahrain	6.218	0.000
43	Trinidad and Tobago	6.168	0.336
44	Venezuela	6.084	-0.762
45	Slovakia	6.078	0.814
46	El Salvador	6.068	0.572
47	Malaysia	6.005	-0.132
48	Nicaragua	5.992	1.285
49	Uzbekistan	5.987	0.755
50	Italy	5.977	-0.735
51	Ecuador	5.976	0.966
52	Belize	5.956	-0.495
53	Japan	5.921	-0.446
54	Kazakhstan	5.919	0.322
55	Moldova	5.897	0.959
56	Russia	5.856	0.738
57	Poland	5.835	0.098
58	South Korea	5.835	0.295
59	Bolivia	5.822	0.322
60	Lithuania	5.813	-0.069
61	Belarus	5.802	0.165
62	Northern Cyprus	5.771	0.000
63	Slovenia	5.768	-0.044
64	Peru	5.743	0.730
65	Turkmenistan	5.658	0.000
66	Mauritius	5.648	0.000
67	Libya	5.615	0.000
68	Latvia	5.560	0.872
69	Cyprus	5.546	-0.692
70	Paraguay	5.538	0.536
71	Romania	5.528	0.310
72	Estonia	5.517	0.165
73	Jamaica	5.510	-0.698
74	Croatia	5.488	-0.333
75	Hong Kong	5.458	-0.053
76	Somalia	5.440	0.000
77	Kosovo ^{[Note 4]}	5.401	0.298
78	Turkey	5.389	0.216
79	Indonesia	5.314	0.295
80	Jordan	5.303	-0.638
81	Azerbaijan	5.291	0.642
82	Philippines	5.279	0.425
83	People's Republic of China^{[Note 3]}	5.245	0.525
84	Bhutan	5.196	0.000
85	Kyrgyzstan	5.185	0.515
86	Serbia	5.177	0.426
87	Bosnia and Herzegovina	5.163	0.263
88	Montenegro	5.161	-0.035
89	Dominican Republic	5.155	0.070
90	Morocco	5.151	0.000
91	Hungary	5.145	0.070
92	Pakistan	5.132	-0.374
93	Lebanon	5.129	0.059
94	Portugal	5.123	-0.282
95	Macedonia	5.121	0.627
96	Vietnam	5.061	-0.299
97	Somaliland	5.057	0.000
98	Tunisia	5.045	0.000
99	Greece	5.033	-1.294
100	Tajikistan	4.996	0.474
101	Mongolia	4.907	0.298
102	Laos	4.876	-0.344
103	Nigeria	4.875	0.075
104	Honduras	4.871	-0.375
105	Iran	4.813	-0.507
106	Zambia	4.795	0.381
107	Nepal	4.793	0.135
108	Palestinian Territories^{[Note 5]}	4.754	0.321
109	Albania	4.655	0.021
110	Bangladesh	4.643	0.170
111	Sierra Leone	4.635	1.028
112	Iraq	4.575	0.000
113	Namibia	4.574	-0.312
114	Cameroon	4.513	0.413
115	Ethiopia	4.508	0.000
116	South Africa	4.459	-0.686
117	Sri Lanka	4.415	0.037
118	India	4.391	-0.711
119	Myanmar	4.365	0.000
120	Egypt	4.362	-0.996
121	Armenia	4.360	-0.226
122	Kenya	4.356	-0.044
123	Ukraine	4.324	-0.701
124	Ghana	4.276	-0.600
125	Republic of the Congo	4.272	0.000
126	Georgia	4.252	0.561
127	Democratic Republic of the Congo	4.236	0.000
128	Senegal	4.219	-0.328
129	Bulgaria	4.217	0.373
130	Mauritania	4.201	0.052
131	Zimbabwe	4.193	0.639
132	Malawi	4.156	-0.205
133	Sudan	4.139	0.000
134	Gabon	4.121	0.000
135	Mali	4.073	0.059
136	Haiti	4.028	0.274
137	Botswana	3.974	-0.765
138	Comoros	3.956	0.000
139	Ivory Coast	3.916	0.000
140	Cambodia	3.907	0.045
141	Angola	3.866	0.000
142	Niger	3.856	-0.144
143	South Sudan	3.832	0.000
144	Chad	3.763	-0.025
145	Burkina Faso	3.739	-0.170
146	Uganda	3.739	-0.356
147	Yemen	3.724	-0.754
148	Madagascar	3.695	-0.285
149	Tanzania	3.666	-0.460
150	Liberia	3.622	-0.080
151	Guinea	3.607	0.000
152	Rwanda	3.515	-0.700
153	Benin	3.484	0.154
154	Afghanistan	3.360	0.000
155	Togo	3.303	0.100
156	Syria	3.069	0.000
157	Burundi	2.905	0.000

Charts and graphs

World Happiness Report

Notes

↑ Israel, founded in 1948, is not recognised by 31 UN members.
↑ In 1949, the Republic of China government led by the Kuomintang (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and set up a provisional capital in Taipei, which serves as the seat of government to this day. The CPC established the People's Republic. As such, the political status of the ROC and the legal status of Taiwan (alongside the territories currently under ROC jurisdiction) are in dispute. In 1971, the United Nations gave the China seat to the PRC instead of the ROC: most states recognize the PRC to be the sole legitimate representative of all China, and the UN classifies Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China". The ROC has de facto relations with most sovereign states. A significant political movement within Taiwan advocates Taiwan independence.
1 2 Both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China claim sovereignty over the whole of China, stating China is de jure a single sovereign entity encompassing both the area controlled by the PRC and the area controlled by the ROC. The position of individual states on this matter varies. Several states fully accept the PRC's position that there is only one China and that the PRC is the sole legitimate representative of China. Other states merely acknowledge this position, while recognising only the PRC as a state. Some states recognise only the ROC as a state, but have expressed an interest in recognition and relations with both the ROC and the PRC.^[8]
↑ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has received recognition as an independent state from 110 out of 193 United Nations member states.
↑
See the following on statehood criteria:
- Mendes, Errol (30 March 2010). "Statehood and Palestine for the purposes of Article 12 (3) of the ICC Statute" (PDF). 30 March 2010: 28, 33. Retrieved 2011-04-17: "...the Palestinian State also meets the traditional criteria under the Montevideo Convention..."; "...the fact that a majority of states have recognised Palestine as a State should easily fulfill the requisite state practice".
- McKinney, Kathryn M. (1994). "The Legal Effects of the Israeli-PLO Declaration ofPrinciples: Steps Toward Statehood for Palestine". Seattle University Law Review. Seattle University. 18 (93): 97. Retrieved 2011-04-17: "It is possible, however, to argue for Palestinian statehood based on the constitutive theory".
- McDonald, Avril (Spring 2009). "Operation Cast Lead: Drawing the Battle Lines of the Legal Dispute". Human Rights Brief. Washington College of Law, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. 25. Retrieved 2011-04-17: "Whether one applies the criteria of statehood set out in the Montevideo Convention or the more widely accepted constitutive theory of statehood, Palestine might be considered a state."

References

↑ "GNH Survey 2010" (PDF). The Centre for Bhutan Studies. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
↑ Helliwell, John; Layard, Richard; Sachs, Jeffrey (April 2, 2012). "World Happiness Report" (PDF). 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 2016 Update". UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network; Earth Institute (University of Columbia). pp. 20–21–22. Archived from the original on 17 Mar 2016. Retrieved 20 Mar 2016.
↑ "Chapter 2: The Distribution of World Happiness", World Happiness Report 2016 Update (PDF), p. 4, para. 1, retrieved 20 Mar 2016
↑ "2016 Update Report download" (PDF). Retrieved 20 Mar 2016.
↑ 2016 Table download (XLS), Figure2.2, retrieved 20 Mar 2016
↑ "Taiwan cuts ties with Costa Rica over recognition for China". The New York Times. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2016.

Lists of countries by quality of life rankings

General	World Happiness Report Happy Planet Index Human Development Index by country inequality-adjusted Legatum Prosperity Index Good Country Index Satisfaction with Life Index Where-to-be-born Index

Economic	Net take-home pay Job security Long-term unemployment rate Home ownership rate Smartphone ownership rate

Environment	Environmental Performance Index Environmental Vulnerability Index Natural disaster risk

Health	Cancer rate Health care quality Health expenditure covered by government Hospital beds Risk of death from non-communicable disease Teenage pregnancy rate

Social/Political	Government transparency Global Slavery Index Global Terrorism Index Social Progress Index Time devoted to leisure and personal care Women's average years in school

List of international rankings List of top international rankings by country Lists by country

External links

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