03 April, 2017
The report is based on an annual survey of 1,000 people in more than 150 countries that simply asks them to rank, on a scale of zero to 10, whether they are living their best life.
Advanced economies with free societies again topped this year's list, with Norway ranked the world's happiest place, dislodging Denmark, which slipped to second spot. If so, they predicted, "African countries would join the ranks of the world's prosperous and happy nations".
Rounding out the top ten were Finland (5th), the Netherlands (6), Canada (7), New Zealand (8), and Australia and Sweden tied for 9th.
Syria was placed at 152 of 155 countries - Yemen and South Sudan, which are facing impending starvation, came in at 146 and 147.
Central African Republic's citizens are the saddest people in the world, followed by Burundi, Tanzania, Syria, Rwanda, Togo, Guinea, Liberia, South Sudan and Yemen. The US and United Kingdom ranked 14th and 19th on the list respectively.
In order to raise the overall level of happiness among US citizens, the report urges America to rebuild social capital by remedying the five factors through campaign finance reform, reducing financial inequality through new policies, improving race relations and better access to quality education.
Moving on, Japan ranks 51st in the list of happiest countries in the world, while China nabbed the 79th spot. India ranked at 122 and was the least happy country among the SAARC nations.
This report is the fifth edition of the World Happiness Report after the first edition was published in April, 2012, in support of the UN High-Level Meeting on happiness and well-being.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has jumped up 12 places from previous year in the global happiness rankings, indicating a trend towards greater economic and social well-being.
The report noted that key factors that lead to misery are not exclusively economic variables (such as income and employment), but also social factors (education and family life), as well as mental and physical health.
The overwhelming importance of having a job for happiness is a major factor, and holds across all of the world's regions.
The report has been edited by John F. Helliwell, Richard Layard, and Jeffrey Sachs, who believe that happiness is increasingly considered the proper measure of social progress and the goal of public policy.
