Czech Republic Moves Up in World Happiness Index

Happiness in the Czech Republic continues to rise as the country enters the top 30 in new UN report

Dave Park

Written by Dave Park Published on 16.03.2016 16:45:50 (updated on 16.03.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has been published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a division of the United Nations.

It ranks more than 150 countries across the world on happiness, which is measured using criteria such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perception of corruption.

The latest report was released earlier today, in advance of UN World Happiness Day on March 20.

What’s the happiest country in the world?

In 2015, Switzerland topped the report, but the country has been edged out by Denmark in the latest update.

Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden round out the top 10 in 2016.

In 2013, the Czech Republic came in at 39 on the list. That ranking increased to 31 last year, and the country has moved up even further in 2016 to 27.

While that’s below Austria (12) and Germany (16), it’s considerably higher than neighboring countries Slovakia (45) and Poland (57).

Least happy countries in the world? Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria, and Burundi round out the bottom of the list.

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