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“Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. If the top step is 10 and the bottom step is 0, on which step of the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time?”
This is one of the main questions social scientists asked those surveyed in the annual World Happiness Report, the results of which were released today. So which Middle Eastern country’s citizens answered the most positively? The United Arab Emirates. Among 156 countries, the tiny Gulf nation makes the list at 20th overall, one rank up from last year. It is the fourth consecutive year that the UAE has been labeled as the happiest in the region.
As for the top spot? It was secured by Finland, who climbed up five spots from last year to oust Norway, which fell no further than second place. It’s followed by other Nordic countries, Denmark, Iceland, and Switzerland.
Below a look at the 10 happiest and least happy countries in this year’s report:
Happiest
1. Finland
2. Norway
3. Denmark
4. Iceland
5. Switzerland
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Sweden
10. Australia
Least Happy
147. Malawi
148. Haiti
149. Liberia
150. Syria
151. Rwanda
152. Yemen
153. Tanzania
154. South Sudan
155. Central African Republic
156. Burundi
