Denmark is world’s happiest place – UN report

FILE – In this April. 1, 2015 file photo, shows Tivoli in Denmark. The United Nations found Danes to be the happiest people on Earth, in a study of 156 countries. AP Photo

Denmark has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s happiest place, while war-torn Syria and Burundi are the ‘loneliest’ countries, according to a global report released in Rome on Wednesday (March 16).

The 2016 World Happiness report sought to quantify the happiness of 157 nations as a way to promote healthier societies. The United Nations (UN) started publishing the said study in 2012. This survey was released in advance in observance of the UN World Happiness Day on March 20.

The Philippines ranked 82nd in the survey, trailing next to Azerbaijan and followed by China.

Developed economies such as Iceland, Norway, Australia, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden complete the top 10, making small and medium-sized countries in Western Europe seven of the top 10 happiest countries, according to a report by Perth Now.

UN crowned Denmark as the happiest place on earth in the 2013 version of the report but fell to Switzerland in 2015.

Six countries in Sub-saharan Africa ranked low in the Happiness survey – Benin, Rwanda, Guinea, Liberia, Tanzania and Madagascar joined Syria, Togo, Burundi, and Afghanistan.

Also, Greece, which suffered painful austerity measures in 2009 and now faces a migrant crisis, had the highest drop in happiness, according to the report. The United States overtook Western nations and landed at the 13th spot.

The authors of the global survey said six factors — GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption, were the basis in computing the happiness scores of the countries. Gianna Catolico