Dubai: The UAE ranked first in the region and the 28th happiest place to live in, according to the World Happiness Report 2016 issued on Wednesday.
Other countries in the Arab region ranked at various levels, with Saudi Arabia at 34, Qatar at 36, Algeria at 38, Kuwait at 41, and Bahrain at 42.
The report, by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, ranked 157 countries based on happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and healthy years of life expectancy.
Denmark topped the list this year as the happiest country in the world, followed by Switzerland in second place and Iceland in third. The remaining top 10 countries consisted of Norway in fourth place, followed by Finland (5), Canada (6), Netherlands (7), New Zealand (8), Australia (9), and Sweden (10).
The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi.
“The cause of happiness as a primary goal for public policy continues to make good progress. So far, four national governments — Bhutan, Ecuador, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela — have appointed ministers of happiness responsible for coordinating their national efforts,” stated the report.
Winners and losers
Among the 20 top gainers, all of which were compared to 2013-2015, eight were in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe, seven in Latin America, two in sub-Saharan Africa, Thailand and China in Asia, and Macedonia in Western Europe.
Among the 20 largest losers, five were in the Middle East and North Africa, five were in sub-Saharan Africa, four were in Western Europe, three in Latin America and the Caribbean, two in Asia and one in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
According to the report, “There are many more sub-national governments, from large states like Jalisco in Mexico to many cities and communities around the world, which are now committed to designing policies enabling people to live happier lives.”
The United States came in at 13, Germany at 16, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Japan at 53.
"There is a very strong message for my country, the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier," said Professor Jeffrey Sachs, head of the SDSN and special advisor to United Nations Secretary Gerneral Ban Ki-moon.
While the differences between countries where people are happy and those where they are not could be scientifically measured, we can understand why and do something about it," Sachs, one of the report's authors, said in an interview in Rome.
“Experimentation is easier at the sub-national level, and this is where we expect to find the most progress. These local efforts are often supported by more encompassing organisations — such as the Happiness Research Institute based in Copenhagen and the Action for Happiness in the United Kingdom — designed to foster and transmit locally inspired and delivered innovations.”
