Danes turned out to be the happiest people on earth<\/em><\/p>
In the top five, besides Denmark, are Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Finland. All these countries have a well-developed social welfare system. The USA ranks 13th, Great Britain 23rd, China 83rd, Ukraine 123rd. Russia in this ranking is at 56th place, somewhat higher than a year ago (64th place). Closing the list of 156 countries is Burundi, where there are ongoing mass unrest, periodically escalating into violent riots. It ranked even lower than Syria, where more than 250,000 people have died in the civil war over the past five years.<\/p>
The study showed that overall the happiest regions are North America, Latin America, the Caribbean countries, and Europe. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa turned out to be the only regions where the well-being rating was below five out of ten possible.<\/p>
The report, compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), is an analysis of surveys of a thousand people in each country, conducted annually by the Gallup Institute. Respondents were asked to rate their lives on a ten-point scale. The researchers identified six main categories determining the level of well-being: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, personal freedoms, participation in charity, and perception of corruption.<\/p>
The study showed that people, in general, live more happily in a society where there is less inequality in the distribution of happiness. The greater the gap in happiness between different population groups, the less happy society is as a whole.<\/p>
The study authors also took into account the level of social support, defined as the ability to rely on someone in difficult times. Another important factor is the level of corruption in society, as perceived by survey participants.<\/p>
«Human well-being should be developed based on a holistic approach that combines economic, social and environmental goals,» says Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, in an SDSN press release. «Instead of narrowly focusing on economic growth, we should promote prosperous, fair and environmentally sustainable [societies],» the scientist asserts.<\/p>
As BBC notes, the top ten happiest countries in the world has not changed since 2015, although some have swapped places. In particular, Switzerland ceded the top spot to Denmark.<\/p>
The 20 happiest countries in the world:<\/strong><\/p>
• 1. Denmark • 2. Switzerland • 3. Iceland • 4. Norway • 5. Finland • 6. Canada • 7. Netherlands • 8. New Zealand • 9. Australia • 10. Sweden • 11. Israel • 12. Austria • 13. USA • 14. Costa Rica • 15. Puerto Rico • 16. Germany • 17. Brazil • 18. Belgium • 19. Ireland • 20. Luxembourg<\/p>