International Happiness
Which Countries and Regions are Most Happy?

http://www.humantruth.info/happiness.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2018

#denmark #finland #happiness #human_development #netherlands #norway

Studying happiness is difficult and people tend to overstate their own happiness - in particular those who are aware of international studies of happiness and want to portray their country in a good light. It is also especially overstated by religious folk who are institutionalized into repeating the story of 'how happy my religion makes me'₁.

Over many years, the happiest countries have been those of northern Europe - Finland, Norway, Denmark, plus the Netherlands. The unhappiest continent is Africa (by a wide margin).

It is of course true that the happiest people are not those who are necessarily leading the best lives. Excess, indulgence and short-term policy can all lead to a high rating on this chart; things like living morally and frugally, for example, do not automatically go hand in hand with happiness even though they are virtues. But by comparing national happiness to overall development via the Social And Moral index score; we see that overall national development is strongly correlated to average happiness. In other words, the key to making a population happy in the long term is the embracing of liberal democratic values, human rights, tolerance, good education, and a strong social net (which are the factors which cause high rankings on the Social & Moral index).

1. Country Rankings

#finland #happiness #human_development

The 2011 and 2018 comes from similar sources; both based on self-declaration during questioning, with answers on a scale of 1 to 10. Analysis and reports are published by the United Nations in both cases. These statistics are widely reported on by the press using simplistic phrases like "Finland is now the best place to live...", but it is more complicated than that: In most regions, education and social mobility determine happiness, rather than the country's placement on the happiness index. Those who are seeking happiness are, most of the time, better off staying where they are, but investing in wiser lifestyle choices. The exception is countries that are very poor or dangerous.

Pos.		Happiness (2018) Higher is better Score₂	Life Satisfaction (2011) Higher is better₃
1	Finland	7.6	7.4
2	Norway	7.6	7.6
3	Denmark	7.6	7.8
4	Iceland	7.5	6.9
5	Switzerland	7.5	7.5
6	Netherlands	7.4	7.6
7	Canada	7.3	7.4
8	New Zealand	7.3	7.2
9	Sweden	7.3	7.5
10	Australia	7.3	7.4
11	Israel	7.2	7.4
12	Austria	7.1	7.5
13	Costa Rica	7.1	7.3
14	Ireland	7.0	7.0
15	Germany	7.0	6.7
16	Belgium	6.9	6.9
17	Luxembourg	6.9	7.1
18	USA	6.9	7.1
19	UK	6.8	6.9
20	UAE	6.8	7.2
21	Czechia	6.7	6.3
22	Malta	6.6	6.2
23	France	6.5	7.0
24	Mexico	6.5	6.8
25	Chile	6.5	6.6
26	Taiwan	6.4
27	Panama	6.4	7.3
28	Brazil	6.4	6.8
29	Argentina	6.4	6.4
30	Guatemala	6.4	6.3
31	Uruguay	6.4	6.1
32	Qatar	6.4	6.6
33	Saudi Arabia	6.4	6.7
34	Singapore	6.3	6.5
35	Malaysia	6.3	5.8
36	Spain	6.3	6.5
37	Colombia	6.3	6.4
38	Trinidad & Tobago	6.2	6.7
39	Slovakia	6.2	5.9
40	El Salvador	6.2	6.7
41	Nicaragua	6.1	5.7
42	Poland	6.1	5.6
43	Bahrain	6.1	4.5
44	Uzbekistan	6.1	5.1
45	Kuwait	6.1	6.6
46	Thailand	6.1	6.7
47	Italy	6.0	6.1
48	Ecuador	6.0	5.8
49	Belize	6.0	6.5
50	Lithuania	6.0	5.4
51	Slovenia	5.9	6.0
52	Romania	5.9	5.0
53	Latvia	5.9	5.0
54	Japan	5.9	6.1
55	Mauritius	5.9	5.5
56	Jamaica	5.9
57	S. Korea	5.9	6.9
58	Northern Cyprus	5.8
59	Russia	5.8	5.4
60	Kazakhstan	5.8	5.5
61	Cyprus	5.8	6.7
62	Bolivia	5.8	5.8
63	Estonia	5.7	5.5
64	Paraguay	5.7	5.8
65	Peru	5.7	5.6
66	Kosovo	5.7
67	Moldova	5.6	5.8
68	Turkmenistan	5.6	5.8
69	Hungary	5.6	4.9
70	Libya	5.6	4.9
71	Philippines	5.5	5.0
72	Honduras	5.5	5.9
73=	Turkey	5.5	5.3
73=	Belarus	5.5	5.2
75	Pakistan	5.5	5.3
76	Hong Kong	5.4	5.5
77	Portugal	5.4	5.2
78	Serbia	5.4	4.5
79	Greece	5.4	5.4
80	Tajikistan	5.4	4.3
81	Montenegro	5.3	5.5
82	Croatia	5.3	5.6
83	Dominican Rep.	5.3	4.7
84	Algeria	5.3	5.2
85	Morocco	5.3	5.1
86	China	5.2	5.0
87	Azerbaijan	5.2	4.7
88	Lebanon	5.2	5.2
89	Macedonia	5.2	4.2
90	Jordan	5.2	5.7
91	Nigeria	5.2	4.8
92	Kyrgyzstan	5.1	4.9
93	Bosnia & Herzegovina	5.1	4.7
94	Mongolia	5.1	5.0
95	Vietnam	5.1	5.8
96	Indonesia	5.1	5.2
97	Bhutan	5.1
98	Somalia	5.0
99	Cameroon	5.0	4.4
100	Bulgaria	4.9	3.9
101	Nepal	4.9	3.8
102	Venezuela	4.8	7.5
103	Gabon	4.8
104	Palestine	4.7	4.8
105	S. Africa	4.7	4.7
106	Iran	4.7	4.8
107	Ivory Coast	4.7	4.2
108	Ghana	4.7	5.6
109	Senegal	4.6	3.8
110	Laos	4.6	5.0
111	Tunisia	4.6	4.7
112	Albania	4.6	5.3
113	Sierra Leone	4.6	4.1
114	Congo, (Brazzaville)	4.6	4.5
115	Bangladesh	4.5	5.0
116	Sri Lanka	4.5	4.2
117	Iraq	4.5	5.0
118	Mali	4.4	3.8
119	Namibia	4.4	4.9
120	Cambodia	4.4	4.2
121	Burkina Faso	4.4	4.0
122	Egypt	4.4	4.1
123	Mozambique	4.4	5.0
124	Kenya	4.4	4.4
125	Zambia	4.4	5.0
126	Mauritania	4.4	5.0
127	Ethiopia	4.4	4.4
128	Georgia	4.3	4.2
129	Armenia	4.3	4.4
130	Myanmar (Burma)	4.3
131	Chad	4.3	3.7
132	Congo, DR	4.2	4.0
133	India	4.2	4.6
134	Niger	4.2	4.1
135	Uganda	4.2	4.2
136	Benin	4.1	3.7
137	Sudan	4.1	4.4
138	Ukraine	4.1	5.1
139	Togo	4.0	2.8
140	Guinea	4.0	4.0
141	Lesotho	3.8
142	Angola	3.8	4.2
143	Madagascar	3.8	4.4
144	Zimbabwe	3.7	4.8
145	Afghanistan	3.6	3.8
146	Botswana	3.6	3.6
147	Malawi	3.6	5.1
148	Haiti	3.6	3.8
149	Liberia	3.5	4.2
150	Syria	3.5	4.1
151	Rwanda	3.4	4.0
152	Yemen	3.4	3.7
153	Tanzania	3.3	4.1
154	S. Sudan	3.3
155	Central African Rep.	3.1	3.6
156	Burundi	2.9	3.8
q=156.

“There are large gaps in happiness between countries, and these will continue to create major pressures to migrate. Some of those who migrate between countries will benefit and others will lose. In general, those who move to happier countries than their own will gain in happiness, while those who move to unhappier countries will tend to lose.”
Helliwell, Layard & Sachs (2018)₅

Statistical analysis can reveal which factors are associated with national happiness levels. United Nations analysis say for the period 2005-2017, six factors in particular explained the data₆. These are:

GDP per capita,
social support,
healthy life expectancy,
social freedom,
generosity, and
absence of corruption.

Also on the chart is each country's Social And Moral index score; showing that overall national development is strongly correlated to average happiness. In other words, the key to making a population happy in the long term is the embracing of liberal democratic values, human rights, tolerance, good education, and a strong social net (which are the factors which cause high rankings on the Social & Moral index).

See:

What is the Best Country in the World? An Index of Morality, Conscience and Good Life

2. Regional Comparisons

#australia #happiness #human_development #new_zealand

This data is skewed by the fact that there is only data for two countries in Australasia - New Zealand and Australia, who both score highly.

Area	Social & Moral Lower is better Avg Rank₄	Life Satisfaction (2011) Higher is better₃	Happiness (2018) Higher is better Score₂
Africa...	110.5	4.4	4.29
Asia...	87.7	5.3	5.29
Australasia	102.5	7.3	7.30
Europe...	57.4	5.9	6.06
North America	82.9	6.3	6.09
South America	79.0	6.3	5.98
The Middle East...	89.1	5.6	5.35
World	86.8	5.4	5.38

3. Happiness and Religion: Does Belief Make You Happy Or Does Unhappiness Make You Believe?

#happiness #human_development #religion #religions #secularisation

Scattergraph of god-belief (theism), religiosity and happiness, by country

Source:₇_,₈

Religious believers often say that their religion makes them happy and that this is one of the reasons for them remaining loyal to their religion₉_,₁₀. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was distraught by this, blurting out that no-one should "regard a doctrine as true merely because it makes people happy... happiness and virtue are no arguments"₁₁. But even more unfortunately, it happens that across the world, religious countries are unhappier than non-religious ones₁₂.

“Adrian White, a University of Leicester psychologist [analyzed] more than a hundred studies that questioned eighty thousand people worldwide. [...] White's work clearly shows that high levels of belief do not guarantee high levels of happiness for societies. Based on the data, high levels of nonbelief seem more conducive to a society's overall happiness than belief.”
Adrian White
Science Daily (2006)13

For more, see:

"Happiness and Religion: Does Belief Make You Happy Or Does Unhappiness Make You Believe?" by Vexen Crabtree (2014).