Canada is the sixth happiest country in the world, out of 156 countries, according to the annual World Happiness Report.
Residents were asked to rank their happiness on a scale from zero to 10, in the following areas, GDP, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.
Top 10 happiest countries in the world are:
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Iceland
- Norway
- Finland
- Canada
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Sweden
The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria, and Burundi.
The report found that while income matters, it’s not the only thing. Mental and physical health are crucial. However perhaps the most important for life satisfaction, is having a strong underlying social fabric – family and friends you can count on, trust among strangers and faith that the government will do what’s right.
One of the goals of the report is to see governments paying more attention to the happiness of their citizens, as a criteria for government policy.
Read the report here.
The report started in 2012, is produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and edited by Professor John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Professor Richard Layard, director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Sachs, director of the Earth Institute.
