2017 Happiness Report: Norway, The Happiest; U.S. Slips To No. 14

For those of you ravaged by the stress and strain of the modern world, here is a tiding that can fetch you the happiness that has eluded you thus far. Europe is THE destination for those seeking happiness, as European nations take the top six ranks in terms of happiness.

The Report And Criteria

The findings are based on a publication called the "World Happiness Report" by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The report for 2017 was published on March 20 — World Happiness Day.

The criteria used to rank the countries, include GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, trust and dystopia.

The Leaders: Europe Heavy

Norway took the top slot in 2017, with a happiness score of 7.537, an improvement from the fourth position it bagged in 2016. According to the report, Norway managed to take the top spot despite the oil-dependent economy hit by lower crude oil prices, as it insulated itself from the boom and bust cycle.

To do this successfully requires high levels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good governance, all factors that help to keep Norway and other top countries where they are in the happiness rankings, the report added.

Denmark was unseated from the pole position and it currently occupies the second spot. Iceland, Switzerland, Finland and Netherlands occupy the third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.

The report noted that the averages of the top four countries are so close that small changes can reorder the rankings.

Our North American neighbor Canada, Antipodean nations Australia and New Zealand and Sweden completes that list of the top 10 nations.

U.S. Drops A Place

The U.S. is the fourteenth country in the list, with a happiness score of 6.993, down from the thirteenth position it occupied in 2016, with a score of 7.104. In the chapter titled "Restoring American Happiness," the report noted that America's crisis is a social crisis and not an economic crisis, as it ranks high up on GDP per capita, but scores low in terms of social support, personal freedom and generosity. Additionally, the perceived level of corruption in government and businesses is high.

The report outlines a few steps that can help the United States return to a blissful state of happiness:

• Campaign finance reform.
• Evolve a set of policies aiming to reduce income and wealth inequality.
• Improve social relations between native-born and immigration population.
• Acknowledge and move past the fear created by 9/11 and its memory.
• Improve educational quality, access and attainment.

It looks like the United States has a tall order before it, if it has to break into the top ten, especially amid the developments surrounding the political transition.

Is President Donald Trump listening?

Laggards

Any discussion on an issue would be incomplete if we do not look at the darker side of it. Central African Republic has the dubious distinction of being the saddest place in the world, as it took the last position (155th). Happiness also seems to elude Rwanda, Syria, Tanzania and Burundi, which took 151st, 152nd, 153rd and 154th place, respectively.

Among developing nations, China, despite having a Communist regime at the helm, took the 83rd spot. India was at 118th position.

Economic dominance of a nation alone cannot ensure happiness for its citizens, as is evident by the findings of the report. A nation has to focus on social aspects too, if it has to provide a truly happy milieu.

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