Canada Among The Top Ten Happiest Countries in the World
In the third World Happiness Report, now encompassing 158 nations, Canada now ranks 5th in the World. Denmark has slipped to third, behind both the Swiss and Iceland, with Norway, Finland and Sweden also near the top. The UK is 21st, one place higher than the second edition, in 2013.
The study, edited by a group of international academics, including US economist Jeffrey Sachs and Richard Layard, head of the Well-Being Programme at the London School of Economics, ranks countries by a series of factors, some nationally determined, for example GDP per capita and healthy life expectancy. Others are worked out through information gathered via the Gallup World Poll, a vast system of surveys that began in 2005 and now covering more than 160 countries.
The idea of assessing population by “contentment” rather than just “wealth” has proved influential, and is promoted by both the United Nations, whose Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the index, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The latest index offers few surprises, with the top nations – the first five are Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada – also ranking among the world’s wealthier countries. Similarly, the bottom five – Togo, Burundi, Syria, Benin and Rwanda – have well-documented problems of unrest and extreme poverty, although the Palestinian Territories are ranked perhaps slightly higher than you might expect, at 108. The US is 15th, with New Zealand 9th and Australia 10th.
Sourced From: World Happiness Report