The World Happiness Report 2018 is not just ranking countries according to the happiness of their inhabitants, but it has a specific focus on the impact of migration, on people involved and nations in general.
"Increasingly, with globalisation, the people of the world are on the move; and most of these migrants are seeking a happier life. But do they achieve it?" World Happiness Report 2018
The rankings of each country are based on the pooled results from Gallup World Poll surveys from 2015-2017. The U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the Report.
The top four spots for overall happiness are all occupied by Nordic nations, but this year there is a new top ranking country: Finland. Norway, previously ranked as the happiest of all, is now second.
The rest of the Top 10 includes:
3. Denmark
4. Iceland
5. Switzerland
6. the Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Sweden
10. Australia
"The closeness of the two rankings shows that the happiness of immigrants depends predominantly on the quality of life where they now live, illustrating a general pattern of convergence. Happiness can change, and does change, according to the quality of the society in which people live. (...) The countries with the happiest immigrants are not the richest countries, but instead the countries with a more balanced set of social and institutional supports for better lives." World Happiness Report 2018
The US has slipped to number 18, five places down on 2016. Italy is ranked at number 47, "still significantly below their 2008-2010 levels" according to the report.
Burundi and the Central African Republic, due to political violence, are the least happy countries for the second year in a row.
The Report evaluates various aspects of each country's lifestyle to establish the degree of happiness experienced by its inhabitants: G.D.P. per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and corruption levels.
This year the Report also evaluated 117 countries by the happiness and well-being of their immigrants. It has been noted that "all the countries in the Top 10 scored highest both in overall happiness and regarding the happiness of immigrants".
