(VOVWORLD) - Rising unhappiness among younger people has caused the United States and some large western European countries to slip down on the global wellbeing index, while Nordic nations have retained their top spots.
 Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark (Photo: Neweuropetours) |
The annual World Happiness Report, launched in 2012 to support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, is based on data collected by US market research company Gallup and analyzed by a global team led by the University of Oxford.
People in 143 countries and territories are asked to evaluate their life on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 representing their best possible life. In broad terms, the rankings are loosely correlated with countries' prosperity, but other factors such as life expectancy, social bonds, personal freedom, and corruption appear to influence individuals' assessments, too.
Finland remained in the top spot – with an average score of 7.7 – followed closely by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, a University of Oxford economics professor and one of the report's editors, said: “Wealth does matter, especially how wealth is distributed. So, in Finland, Denmark, and Scandinavian countries, we find that wealth is more equally distributed, so more people benefit from the wealth that is generated.”
The United States dropped out of the top 20 for the first time, falling to 23rd place, while the UK ranked 32rd. In Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, happiness has decreased in all age groups, according to the report. Meanwhile, countries that enjoyed increasing happiness included many African nations, Cambodia, Russia, and China.