In conjunction with the #InternationalDayofHappiness and the arrival of the Spring Equinox, the seventh annual 2019 World Happiness Report has arrived.
Measuring the state of global happiness in the 2019 World Happiness Report (WHR) – and against this year’s focus on happiness and the community – the results are in. More specifically, they are:
“how happiness has been changing over the past dozen years, and how information technology, governance and social norms influence communities.”
For newcomers to the WHR, this landmark annual survey (since 2012, except for 2014) measures the state of global happiness by ranking 156 countries according to their happiness levels. Six key variables – GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption – explain the variation of happiness across countries. Scores are based on individuals’ own assessments of their lives.
Before I discovered the first Happiness Report of 2012, I had been exploring the state of global happiness – and the quest for happiness. I wait for these annual reports to land. They provide new insights into places and behavior that I can further explore across other topics.
Overview
Last year’s report studied migration within social context and across institutions. As the world changes rapidly, communication and interaction between people – whether in their schools and workplaces, their neighborhoods, or in far-flung places – provided important insights for the 2019 report: Connection. Broad international differences in life evaluations are driven by the differences in how people connect with each other, with their shared institutions and through social norms.
Along with the customary ranking of levels and changes in happiness in 156 around the world, 132 countries were ranked for changes in levels of life evaluations. This section of the report focuses specifically on community members interactions through three sets of factors:
Links between government and happiness,
The power of prosocial behavior, and
Changes in information technology.
What is the benchmark?
The consistent-to-date benchmark for measurement is the fictitious country called Dystopia with the world’s lowest incomes, lowest life expectancy, lowest generosity, most corruption, least freedom and least social support.
Country Happiness Ranking (156)
Total Population 2016-2018
Finland remains the happiest country this year followed by Denmark and Norway, switching positions from last year. Within the top 10 positions, all countries are repeaters from 2018 except Australia which has dropped to the 11th slot. It has been newly replaced by Austria. For the top 10 countries, evaluations are nearly three times as high than those in the bottom 10 countries, with South Sudan as the lowest-ranked country.
Finland
Denmark
Norway
Iceland
Netherlands
Switzerland
Sweden
New Zealand
Canada
Austria
The United States ranks 19th, dropping one place from 2018.
Changes in Country Happiness Ranking (132)
2005-2008 and 2016-2018
This year, with a decade of data available, changes in life evaluations were measured for the 132 countries with the most significant data. How the nature and quality of government policies and institutions can influence happiness were the primary factors considered. Happiness levels for the top 10 countries gained more than 1% on average. Benin in the top spot has gained more than 50 places since the first WHR in 2012.
Benin
Nicaragua
Bulgaria
Latvia
Togo
Congo (Brazzaville)
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Ecuador
Uzbekistan
The United States ranks 112th, showing a nearly -.5% drop in happiness levels.
Most countries show significant changes, with gains totaled in 78, and the remaining countries showing downturns in happiness levels. These countries have typically suffered some combination of economic, political or social upheaval. Unsurprisingly, Venezuela, in the bottom spot, dropped almost 2%.
More Topics Explored
The huge report continues to drill down through voting behavior, prosocial behavior, big data and well-being. There’s an especially interesting chapter (5) focusing on happiness, or lack thereof, titled The Sad State of Happiness in the United States and the Role of Digital Media. This is definitely worth attention:
“the way adolescents socialize has fundamentally shifted, moving toward online activities and away from face-to-face social interaction.”
As populations diversify and change, the report is a good read about important world issues that continue to shift, evolve and reshuffle.
Map infographics: © 2019 Janet Giampietro | Photo: 和 平 on Unsplash
