The Happiest (and Saddest) Countries

The United Nations General Assembly's second World Happiness Report ranks countries based on several measures of well-being and analyzes the factors that contribute to that well-being. Here are the country rankings, based on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most satisfied with life. The scores are an average of results between 2010 and 2012

1. Denmark (7.693)
2. Norway (7.655)
3. Switzerland (7.650)
4. Netherlands (7.512)
5. Sweden (7.480)
6. Canada (7.477)
7. Finland (7.389)
8. Austria (7.369)
9. Iceland (7.355)
10. Australia (7.350)
11. Israel (7.301)
12. Costa Rica (7.257)
13. New Zealand (7.221)
14. United Arab Emirates (7.144)
15. Panama (7.143)
16. Mexico (7.088)
17. United States (7.082)
18. Ireland (7.076)
19. Luxembourg (7.054)
20. Venezuela (7.039)

.....

147. Senegal (3.959)
148. Syria (3.892)
149. Comoros (3.851)
150. Guinea (3.847)
151. Tanzania (3.770)
152. Rwanda (3.715)
153. Burundi (3.706)
154. Central African Republic (3.623)
155. Benin (3.528)
156. Togo (2.936)

Worldwide trends
Scandinavian countries topped the list of happiest countries, with the United States ranking 17th,bested by Mexico, Panama and the United Arab Emirates.

On average, people in more than 150 countries rate their happiness as a 5.1 on a scale of 0 to 10. But happiness hasn't stayed constant over time: 61 countries saw their happiness improve over the years, while 41 countries have become unhappier. Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are becoming happier overall, while industrial nations report less well-being.

More than three-quarters of the differences in happiness scores were attributable to six key metrics: real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption and generosity.

Article

I live in Denmark and I've had the pleasure of visiting about half the countries on this list, including the US.

Honestly I am a bit surprised that the US is bested by Mexico. I've never been there, so perhaps I should not make any assumptions, but with all the news I hear about immigrants coming from Mexico and going to the US, I am just a bit surprised to see that people living in Mexico are actually considered to be slightly happier than people in the US - on average anyway.

Also I am a bit surprised that the Syrian people are not the most unhappy people in he world. Not sure I wanna now what goes on in Togo.

reply to post by Mads1987

Bit of a strange survey/results if you think about it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, the top 20 countries ranged between a 7 to a 7.6, barely a difference.

I'm curious to know which nations ranked a 1 or 2 vs a 7.

Also interesting to note is that no nation ranked above a 7.6...

Wonder what that 2.4% of unhappiness accounts for, not enough cheap beer?

Well you cant get into the 9or 10 range without a huge number of votes in that range, which averagely there are not.

Thats a nice guide and im glad to see that the UK was not in the first section, as it reflects how i feel and the general happiness for the people i know.

Quite interesting little snippet of statistics, thanks for posting.

reply to post by gladtobehere


I added the 10 lowest scoring countries. Cause as you pointed out 0.6 isn't much of a difference.
But it is funny though, that there seems to be a barrier around 7.6.

I suspect it is because even the happiest of people expect things can get better. We all have dreams - I guess they could account for the last 2.4 points.

I find it interesting that the more socialized countries make up the very top of the list.

reply to post by Mads1987


Hmm Canada #6 eh? Probably due to the approaching hockey season, and the better prospect of Toronto having a good season, and the bounty of beer we have.

I just recently heard a report that depression is becoming more prevalent in this country, especially with new mothers for some reason.

its a statistical bull# article with no true merit. It's too generalized and gives no real scale on "happiness". goddamn i hate these incompetent studies

reply to post by jvm222


I'll agree with you, that it isn't easy to measure happiness - and this survey might not give a complete picture. But it has been going on for years, and they do look at a lot of aspects in life, when they work out these numbers. So it might be hard to say who is the happiest, or who is on that spot and the other, but I think it fair to say, that the top ten, is properly in the top in reality as well, and the same goes for the bottom ten.

reply to post by Mads1987


Well I would guess Sweden will take a drop whenever they update this list considering they have been rioting against inequality. Unless they are happy riots?

reply to post by jjkenobi


Haha.. well. The swedes are doing alright compared to many others Imo. So I am not sure why they are protesting. But you might be right. The numbers have been collected since 2010, so it might no be up2date..

I don't believe this at all.For instance, just about everything launches in America first with others being months or even years later.

And as for the hockey comment above,the Canadians haven't won the cup in over 20 years

reply to post by NLDelta9


Well, just because a minority of the american people are blessed with extraordinary wealth, and hence has societies newest inventions at their disposal, it doesn't mean that the entire country will be happy on their behalf. There is simply to much inequality in the states.

I think it is important to keep in mind that this is peoples measure of their own happiness.

That is, it isn't an objective measure of happiness based on... standard of living, productivity, income levels, or something like that.

Whether someone determines they are happy or not can be influenced by many factors- like their expectations and desires. Someone with higher expectations and ideas of what they need and want could be living a life of much more leisure, but be not happy. Someone who expects less might be completely happy with less materially, and more hard work.

I didn't see France on there, it is surely lower down- they have a very high standard of living, much better than in the US, they work less hours, spend more on leisure and sports, and yet their culture makes them one of the most negative and complaining peoples you can find!
(I think it is because of their values on one showing their capability to think critically, and show they have "caractère"- which doesn't indicate moral principles and integrity, as in english, but that one is hard to please and aggressive).

Where the french tend to perceive that they have things worse than they do, americans tend to perceive they have things better than they actually do.

Mads1987
reply to post by NLDelta9

 

Well, just because a minority of the american people are blessed with extraordinary wealth, and hence has societies newest inventions at their disposal, it doesn't mean that the entire country will be happy on their behalf. There is simply to much inequality in the states.

Well, the entire country is huge! Denmark is smaller than the average state and with a far smaller population.Your average American home owner probably owns a house double the size than a European and still thinks they are unhappy. lol

reply to post by Mads1987


Lets not forget the 460.000 Danes on pharmaceuticals like anti-depressant. They are called "Happy Pills" here in Denmark.

A little graphic from Occupy Denmark:

Article on the left says: "Denmark once again the #1 country of happy people"
Article on the right says: "Medical executive warns: 460.000 Danes on 'Happy Pills'"

Does anyone knows where the active ingredients from anti-depressants come from?

reply to post by kloejen


Excellent point. I guess that is like 8% of the population that are on some kind of anti-depressant. I am not sure how that compares to other countries. But it is a lot.

The big questions are, are we more depressed today? Are doctors quicker to prescribe these drugs than they used to be? Have we substituted our abusive relation to alcohol with these drugs?

NLDelta9

Mads1987
reply to post by NLDelta9

 

Well, just because a minority of the american people are blessed with extraordinary wealth, and hence has societies newest inventions at their disposal, it doesn't mean that the entire country will be happy on their behalf. There is simply to much inequality in the states.

Well, the entire country is huge! Denmark is smaller than the average state and with a far smaller population.Your average American home owner probably owns a house double the size than a European and still thinks they are unhappy. lol

Which is why they don't look exclusively at income - or property for that matter. But yes, you are right, the average american home is larger than the average European home.

US: 2,300 sf
Australia: 2,217 sf
Denmark: 1,475 sf
France: 1,216 sf
Spain: 1,044 sf
Ireland: 947 sf
UK: 818 sf

However - the average american home size has been steadily declining. Properly as a result of increasing urbanization and a decrease in prosperity.

Happiness is relative, as you imply. But to my understanding, the survey never ask people specifically about how happy they feel they are.

reply to post by Mads1987


One of my friends was once at a psychiatrist. He told the psychiatrist, that he sometimes felt depressive. Not suicide depressive, but up's and down's in everyday life. The psychiatrist immediately suggested "happy pills" was the answer, and it would all go away.
My friend was stunned. This was only 7 minutes into the conversation. How on earth could the psychiatrist diagnose him so fast? He felt more like a nuisance to the psychiatrist, and felt like he was wasting her time. He got upset, and asked why the psychiatrist think that "happy pills" would be the answer. The reply was; "it usually does" ...

This is a growing and alarming trend. These "doctors" are just throwing pills at people it seems.
Are doctors in the Big Pharma's pockets?

jjkenobi
reply to post by Mads1987

 

Well I would guess Sweden will take a drop whenever they update this list considering they have been rioting against inequality. Unless they are happy riots?

In many countries you get shot for that sort of thing so despite the fact that Swedes may be rioting ( hard to picture anyways) it may very well be rather happy rioters considering the fact that they have just about a zero % chance of getting shot to death for the trouble. That being said one should remember that the only way to be happy is to be happy which is largely defined as being OK with where you are in life or your general circumstances. If we accept that the USA is in fact a more aspirational type 'culture' ( in many other you can try to get someplace but only along strictly defined routes) where success is defined by itself it would probably place the US much higher up on that list.

That being said i am of the opinion that there is more happiness around when everyone is modestly well off ( or even poor) together than when some are poor, some are modestly well off and others are fantastically rich and in that regard i wonder why the Scandinavian societies are not in fact 'happier' in their modest prosperity....

Stellar

NLDelta9
I don't believe this at all.For instance, just about everything launches in America first with others being months or even years later.

And as for the hockey comment above,the Canadians haven't won the cup in over 20 years

But what does the launches of new products that the large majority of Americans can not afford have to do with being more happy? Would seeing all the things you do not think you will ever be likely to afford make you happier? Or perhaps the happy people are taking anti depressants between product launches?

(Reuters) - More than one in 10 Americans over the age of 12 takes an antidepressant, a class of drugs that has become wildly popular in the past several decades, U.S. government researchers said Wednesday.

www.reuters.com...

The federal government’s health statisticians figure that about one in every 10 Americans takes an antidepressant. And by their reckoning, antidepressants were the third most common prescription medication taken by Americans in 2005–2008, the latest period during which the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected data on prescription drug use.

Here are a few other stand-out statistics from the report on antidepressants:

*23% of women in their 40s and 50s take antidepressants, a higher percentage than any other group (by age or sex)
*Women are 2½ times more likely to be taking an antidepressant than men (click here to read a May 2011 article in the Harvard Mental Health Letter about women and depression)
*14% of non-Hispanic white people take antidepressants compared with just 4% of non-Hispanic blacks and 3% of Mexican Americans
*Less than a third of Americans who are taking a single antidepressants (as opposed to two or more) have seen a mental health professional in the past year
*Antidepressant use does not vary by income status.

www.health.harvard.edu...

So roughly 40 million Americans can not stand the proverbial heat despite the high costs associated with prescription medication? Makes you think, right?

Stellar