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 have an impact on the state of mind of human beings. The World Happiness Report is released by the United Nations annually to estimate the general well-being of people worldwide. The 2018 Index ranks 156 countries by 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.
Numerous factors have to be considered to measure the happiness of a country. Wealth isn’t the only determining factor, and the world’s wealthiest nations are not necessarily the happiest. Despite having a good economy, countries such as the USA and Japan do not even rank amid the top ten countries in the Index. The wide disparity has led policymakers to estimate the 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 the 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 usage of antidepressants. 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 the 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 |
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