The world’s happiest countries 2019 list is finally out and surprisingly Nigeria ranks 85th in the list, ahead of South Africa which is ranked at 106th on the list. Finland has topped the world’s happiest countries 2019 list for the second year in a row. The Nordic nation’s happiness has been rising slowly but steadily since 2014.
US analytics company, Gallup, teamed up with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network to survey the state of global happiness across 156 countries across the world. The survey took into account several factors such as income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity. Another factor is the effect technology is having on people’s happiness. The report found that teens who spent more time with digital devices were less happy, reported USA Today.
The report was published on March 20 which was declared a World Happiness Day by the UN General Assembly back in 2012.
Rounding off the top ten positions are Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, and Austria.
As per the 2019 World Happiness Report, a lot of countries have seen great improvements in happiness in the last decade, with more countries growing happier than not. Benin has taken the greatest leap compared to 2005-2008 figures as its ranking in the 2019 report has improved 50 places. Venezuela and Syria, on the other hand, are both ranked lower this year as compared to last year. Burundi, which stood last on 2018’s happiness list, has climbed 5 spots to the 145th position this year.
The United States (US) just barely made the top 20 ranking 19th in the list down one spot from 2018 and five from 2017. Except for income, the US didn’t make it to the top of any other metrics used to produce the happiness ranking. The US ranked 12th for generosity, 37th for social support, 42nd for corruption, and 61st in terms of freedom.
