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World Happiness Rankings
by Peter Archbold, Oct 12, 2006
The purpose of these rankings is to determine which countries are enjoying the long and happy lives which so many of us are striving for.
In light of data regarding suicide rates from the World Health Organisation there are some notable surprises in the top 10. It is somewhat surprising that Switzerland top the rankings despite having a suicide rate which is almost double the worldwide average. Other high-ranking countries with even higher suicide rates include Luxembourg and Finland.
Ideally, suicide rates would have been a factor in calculation of the rankings. However, there are a significant number of countries for which this data is unavailable.
Although Japan and Hong Kong have the two highest life expectancies in the world their low rankings are a reflection of how poorly they fared in the life satisfaction surveys.
Bottom of the pile was Zimbabwe due to their unfortunate combination a life expectancy of just 36.9 and the joint second lowest life satisfaction rating in the world.
- Switzerland
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Canada
- Austria
- Finland
- Luxembourg
- Norway
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Denmark
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Ireland
- Costa Rica
- Belgium
- United Arab Emirates
- Brunei Darussalam
- United States of America
- Germany
- Spain
- Italy
- Hong Kong
- Dominica
- United Kingdom
- Singapore
- Cyprus
- Israel
- Kuwait
- Barbados
- Antigua and Barbuda
- France
- Malaysia
- Venezuela
- Oman
- Panama
- Seychelles
- Bahrain
- Mexico
- Japan
- Slovenia
- Colombia
- Taiwan
- Chile
- Saudi Arabia
- Argentina
- Bahamas
- Qatar
- Greece
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Cuba
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Czech Republic
- Vanuatu
- Belize
- Uruguay
- Portugal
- Suriname
- Jamaica
- Tonga
- Korea
- Bhutan
- Tunisia
- Honduras
- Samoa (Western)
- Mauritius
- Croatia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Sri Lanka
- El Salvador
- Poland
- Guatemala
- Dominican Republic
- Paraguay
- China
- Guyana
- Ecuador
- Libya
- Fiji
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Brazil
- Hungary
- Kyrgyzstan
- Indonesia
- Maldives
- Slovakia
- Mongolia
- Solomon Islands
- Vietnam
- Nicaragua
- Lebanon
- Iran
- Grenada
- Palestine
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Uzbekistan
- Cape Verde
- Syria
- Macedonia
- Timor-Leste
- Peru
- Morocco
- Tajikistan
- Romania
- Albania
- Algeria
- Jordan
- Estonia
- Comoros
- Yemen
- Lithuania
- Papua New Guinea
- Ghana
- Kazakhstan
- Namibia
- Latvia
- Gabon
- Bangladesh
- Turkey
- Bolivia
- Bulgaria
- Madagascar
- Gambia
- India
- Cambodia
- Egypt
- Senegal
- Nepal
- Armenia
- Congo
- Azerbaijan
- South Africa
- Georgia
- Burma
- Laos
- Benin
- Kenya
- Haiti
- Belarus
- Tanzania
- Mauritania
- Russia
- Moldova
- Nigeria
- Guinea-Bissau
- Mali
- Guinea
- Togo
- Ukraine
- Pakistan
- Mozambique
- Djibouti
- Cameroon
- Botswana
- Turkmenistan
- Equatorial Guinea
- Ethiopia
- Burkina Faso
- Eritrea
- Sudan
- Uganda
- Sierra Leone
- Central African Republic
- Zambia
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Angola
- Niger
- Chad
- Rwanda
- Malawi
- Lesotho
- Burundi
- Congo, Dem. Rep. of the
- Swaziland
- Zimbabwe
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