Israel has moved up in the world from ninth to fourth happiest country in the world, according to a report by the UN-affiliated Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The report was released Monday to mark the UN-designated International Day of Happiness.
“The happiness movement shows that well-being is not a ‘soft’ and ‘vague’ idea but rather focuses on areas of life of critical importance: material conditions, mental and physical wealth, personal virtues and good citizenship,” said Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, who worked on the study.
The report was based on data from the Gallup World Poll. It analyzed six main factors to assess self-reported happiness levels around the world: absence of corruption, freedom, generosity, health, income, and social support.
First on the list for the sixth year in a row was Finland, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and New Zealand.
The United States was ranked at 15, Britain at 19 and France was 21st. The two unhappiest nations were Afghanistan and Lebanon.
