Happiness index: Philippines rises to 71st

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is the 71st happiest country in the world, according to the United Nations’ annual World Happiness Report for 2018.

Finland topped the list of 156 countries ranked in the World Happiness Report. Burundi was the least happy country. 

The Philippines ranked third among countries with highest levels of “positive affect.”

Positive affect, the report said, is measured as the simple average of the “day-before” dichotomous variables such as smiled or laughed yesterday, learned something, treated with respect, experienced enjoyment and felt well-rested.

The top 10 happiest countries in the world are Finland, Norway, Denmark,  Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.

The top 10 have been the same countries listed in the last two years, although with some swapping places.

Four countries have held the top spot since 2015: Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and now Finland.

All the top countries tend to have high values for all six of the key variables that have been found to support wellbeing: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity, to such a degree that year to year changes in the top ranking are to be expected.

The World Happiness Report 2018, a landmark survey of the state of global happiness, ranked the  countries by their happiness levels.

The report was released on March 14 at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican ahead of the celebration of World Happiness Day on March 20.

The UN General Assembly declared March 20 as World Happiness Day, recognizing the “relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives.”

John Helliwell, a co-editor of the World Happiness Report and professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia, said all the countries in the top 10 scored highest both in overall happiness and on the happiness of immigrants. 

The rankings of the world’s happiest countries came from an analysis of data from surveys in 156 countries taken from 2015 to 2017. The analysis of immigrant happiness was based on surveys of 117 countries covering 2005 to 2015.

With globalization, the report said the people of the world are on the move and most of the migrants are seeking a happier life. 

The migrants are not the only people affected by their decision to move. Two other major groups of people are affected by migration: those left behind in the area of origin and those living in the area of destination.

The happiness of each migrant depends not only on the happiness of locals but also on the level of happiness in the migrant’s country of origin. 

The happiness of immigrants also depends on how accepting the locals are toward immigrants.

The report said there are large gaps in happiness between countries, and these will continue to create major pressures to migrate. Some of those who migrate between countries will benefit and others will lose. 

In general, those who move to happier countries than their own will gain in happiness, while those who move to unhappier countries will tend to lose.