The World Map of Happiness

Adrian G. White, a psychologist at the University of Leicester, produced a “world map of happiness.” The study reflects data from UNESCO, the CIA, the New Economics Foundation, the WHO, the Veenhoven Database, the Latinbarometer, the Afrobarometer, and the UNHDR.

The twenty happiest countries are:

1. Denmark

2. Switzerland

3. Austria

4. Iceland

5. The Bahamas

6. Finland

7. Sweden

8. Bhutan

9. Brunei

10. Canada

11. Ireland

12. Luxembourg

13. Costa Rica

14. Malta

15. The Netherlands

16. Antigua and Barbuda

17. Malaysia

18. New Zealand

19. Norway

20. The Seychelles

Other rankings: USA (23), France (62), China (82) Japan (90), India (125). Fortunately, I am married to a Danish woman.

Comments

[Bow]

I don't agree with that. Many of that countries have high suicide rates... Where is Spain !?!?

;-)

A spanish man married to a WONDERFUL spanish woman

[Paul]

We also have to consider cultural-impact on the answers given. Some cultures such as the UK and Japan engender the response of 'average'. This can mean that some nations score poorly because their culture means that when asked how good things are they do not like to 'show off' or 'over estimate' things thus creating a potential 'average' response.

Personally the things I think make for happy people in a country:

*Social mobility - far more important than money is the ability to move between social groups
*Safety - low crime and stable finances will make it easier to concentrate on what makes you happy
*A 'can do' culture - hard to measure but the 'american dream' long stood as a flag that said america was a land of opportunity and positive thinking (I think an amount of this has been lost to anti-americanism unfortunately)
*Variety of experiences - the nations listed that jump out at me have varied climates, varied environments and so that constant change I believe makes things better than the feeling of 'always the same'

I think individual outlook plays a huge role, the old adage that "as one door closes another opens" may make some cynics kuffaw but I like its outlook

[Maki]

I think Bhutan should be number one! Gorgeous place with incredible scenery. Loved the languid pace of life there.

[HIMANSHU]

Good Lord,India is at 125 !!!!

-Himanshu
(http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com)

[Andy]

Hmm, I dunno how that corelates to this. These are suicide rates per 100,000 according to World Health Org as of 1997. Maybe over the last 10 years they all got happier in Finland and Denmark? Maybe the ones who are left are happy?

I dunno, seems weird to me

Andy

Finland 26.4
Denmark 20.4
Austria 20.4
France 19.8
Switzerland 19.6
Japan 15.1
Sweden 14.7
Germany 13.8
Norway 13
United States 11.8
Netherlands 9.6

[let's be careful]

the list contains "countries" not races, so please let's not extrapolate and make statements about one's wife being born in a particular country, I imagine that once one moves to another country, one is as happy as the local people are, happiness is not a race thing from this study, it is a time and space and geography phenomena. I would imagine that someone who is born in Denmark who moves to India would find themselves to be very unhappy

[Abraham Sultan]

Hey Guy,

I'm surprised that you implemented captcha comments after your post: "The Top Ten Stupid Ways to Hinder Market Adoption"

Number 12: Unreadable confirmation codes, complains about this one but I must say that it was harder to read your captcha then the one you examplified on your post.

I guess we'll do anything to combat SPAM, even if it means hindering market adoption to some degree.

Abe

[Abraham Sultan]

Clearly there is one un-happy camper!

Any idea as of where does Venezuela place on the list?

[Aseem Bajaj]

Interestingly most of the top 20 happy countries are small in size (except Canada that stands out, and Sweden and Finland to some extent).

From a population stand point, all of them have relatively smaller populations.

[carl rahn griffith]

having worked in/spent a lot of time in many of those counturies - in both a professional and personal context - i very much beg to differ!

as ever, there are "lies, damn lies and statistics" ...

how can one apply binary metrics to subjective happiness? this listing clearly reflects the oxymoron therein.

[db]

Hear Hear! My wife is Norwegian.