What are the happiest countries in the world?

Happiness does not always rely on the attitude of a person. The surroundings and quality of life offered by a country, has its own impact on the state of mind of human beings. The World Happiness Report is released by United Nations annually to estimate the general well-being of people worldwide. The 2018 Index ranks 156 countries in accordance of their happiness levels. The variables considered for the estimations are: real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and corruption levels.

Scandinavian countries of Finland, Norway and Denmark have attained top rankings in the Happiness Index of 2018. Finland stands at the No.1 rank, majorly owing to the high environmental standards and less crime and terrorism. Free or low-cost education and healthcare add the much-needed charm, for people living in the country.

To consider happiness of a country, numerous factors have to be considered. Wealth isn’t the only determining factor and world’s richest nations are not necessarily the happiest. Despite having a good economy, countries of USA and Japan do not even rank amid the top ten countries in the Index. The wide disparity has led policymakers to estimate health and happiness of people in a nation, via different indicators and not just GDP growth rate.

Social measures, livability and culture prevailing in a country are some of the crucial factors to understand well-being of citizens. In the United States of America, inequality is on the rise, life expectancy has declined and health problems are severe. The country has the largest population of obese adults and has the highest rate of antidepressants usage. Economists are concerned about the future of the nation, and there is a strong need for better policies that benefit people.

On the other hand, the African nation of Burundi,was ranked at the bottom of happiness index attaining a score of 2.90. The dominating factors behind it being high corruption, increased poverty, and low life expectancy rate.

Here is a table with the ranking of countries, along with their happiness scores:

Rank	Country	Score 2018		Rank	Country	Score 2018
1	Finland	7.632	79	Greece	5.358
2	Norway	7.594	80	Tajikistan	5.358
3	Denmark	7.555	81	Montenegro	5.347
4	Iceland	7.495	82	Croatia	5.321
5	Switzerland	7.487	83	Dominican Republic	5.302
6	Netherlands	7.441	84	Algeria	5.295
7	Canada	7.328	85	Morocco	5.254
8	New Zealand	7.324	86	China	5.246
9	Sweden	7.314	87	Azerbaijan	5.201
10	Australia	7.272	88	Lebanon	5.199
11	Israel	7.19	89	Macedonia	5.185
12	Austria	7.139	90	Jordan	5.161
13	Costa Rica	7.072	91	Nigeria	5.155
14	Ireland	6.977	92	Kyrgyzstan	5.131
15	Germany	6.965	93	Bosnia and Herzegovina	5.129
16	Belgium	6.927	94	Mongolia	5.125
17	Luxembourg	6.91	95	Vietnam	5.103
18	United States	6.886	96	Indonesia	5.093
19	United Kingdom	6.814	97	Bhutan	5.082
20	United Arab Emirates	6.774	98	Somalia	4.982
21	Czech Republic	6.711	99	Cameroon	4.975
22	Malta	6.627	100	Bulgaria	4.933
23	France	6.489	101	Nepal	4.88
24	Mexico	6.488	102	Venezuela	4.806
25	Chile	6.476	103	Gabon	4.758
26	Taiwan	6.441	104	Palestinian	4.743
27	Panama	6.43	105	South Africa	4.724
28	Brazil	6.419	106	Iran	4.707
29	Argentina	6.388	107	Côte d’Ivoire	4.671
30	Guatemala	6.382	108	Ghana	4.657
31	Uruguay	6.379	109	Senegal	4.631
32	Qatar	6.374	110	Laos	4.623
33	Saudi Arabia	6.371	111	Tunisia	4.592
34	Singapore	6.343	112	Albania	4.586
35	Malaysia	6.322	113	Sierra Leone	4.571
36	Spain	6.31	114	Republic of the Congo	4.559
37	Colombia	6.26	115	Bangladesh	4.5
38	Trinidad & Tobago	6.192	116	Sri Lanka	4.471
39	Slovakia	6.173	117	Iraq	4.456
40	El Salvador	6.167	118	Mali	4.447
41	Nicaragua	6.141	119	Namibia	4.441
42	Poland	6.123	120	Cambodia	4.433
43	Bahrain	6.105	121	Burkina Faso	4.424
44	Uzbekistan	6.096	122	Egypt	4.419
45	Kuwait	6.083	123	Mozambique	4.417
46	Thailand	6.072	124	Kenya	4.41
47	Italy	6	125	Zambia	4.377
48	Ecuador	5.973	126	Mauritania	4.356
49	Belize	5.956	127	Ethiopia	4.35
50	Lithuania	5.952	128	Georgia	4.34
51	Slovenia	5.948	129	Armenia	4.321
52	Romania	5.945	130	Myanmar	4.308
53	Latvia	5.933	131	Chad	4.301
54	Japan	5.915	132	Democratic Republic of the Congo	4.245
55	Mauritius	5.891	133	India	4.19
56	Jamaica	5.89	134	Niger	4.166
57	South Korea	5.875	135	Uganda	4.161
58	Northern Cyprus	5.835	136	Benin	4.141
59	Russia	5.81	137	Sudan	4.139
60	Kazakhstan	5.79	138	Ukraine	4.103
61	Cyprus	5.762	139	Togo	3.999
62	Bolivia	5.752	140	Guinea	3.964
63	Estonia	5.739	141	Lesotho	3.808
64	Paraguay	5.681	142	Angola	3.795
65	Peru	5.663	143	Madagascar	3.774
66	Kosovo	5.662	144	Zimbabwe	3.692
67	Moldova	5.64	145	Afghanistan	3.632
68	Turkmenistan	5.636	146	Botswana	3.59
69	Hungary	5.62	147	Malawi	3.587
70	Libya	5.566	148	Haiti	3.582
71	Philippines	5.524	149	Liberia	3.495
72	Honduras	5.504	150	Syria	3.462
73	Belarus	5.483	151	Rwanda	3.408
74	Turkey	5.483	152	Yemen	3.355
75	Pakistan	5.472	153	Tanzania	3.303
76	Hong Kong	5.43	154	South Sudan	3.254
77	Portugal	5.41	155	Central African Republic	3.083
78	Serbia	5.398	156	Burundi	2.905

Know more:

• Social Progress Index
• Magnetic Cities of the World

• Livable Cities
• Refugee population

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