World’s Top Ten Happiest Countries! Can You Guess the No. 1?

It is a moment of pleasure for Nordic nations. As New Zealand stands at (8th) and Australia at the (9th) position in a top 10 chart of world’s happiest countries.

World Happiness Report 2017 reveals the ranking of these countries. Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) formulated this report, which is an initiative introduced by UN.

Norway is now the world’s happiest country, whereas Denmark stands at a second position. The basic purpose of this report is to encourage nations for maintaining equality and social trust. Since, it is imperative for the welfare of their citizens.

According to this annual report released by United Nations, Syria and Yemen are lowest in the rank among these 155 countries. Moreover, Tanzania, Liberia, South Sudan, Guinea, Togo, Rwanda, Central African Republic and the Burundi are the least happy countries.

Jeffrey Sachs, a special adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General and the director of the SDSN shared some of his thoughts in following words.

“Happy countries are the ones that have a healthy balance of prosperity, as conventionally measured, and social capital, meaning a high degree of trust in a society, low inequality and confidence in government,”.

This report serves as a tool for civil society, governments, and business for helping their countries to devise a viable wellbeing plan.

According to Mr. Sachs, inequality, distrust, and corruption are some of the reasons, which keep the United States behind in the ranking. In addition, the economic vision of President Donald Trump’s administration is making things worse.

Following are the six factors, which served as decisive elements for awarding these rankings.

• Healthy life expectancy
• Per capita gross domestic product
• Absence of corruption in business or government
• Freedom, generosity
• Social support

Sachs is happy to mention the example of the United Arab Emirates and other similar countries, which have appointed “Ministers of Happiness”. He further states that other nations must also follow their steps.

According to the latest World Happiness Report, following are the top 10 happiest nations.

1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10. Sweden