If happiness could be quantified, how would you rate your own happiness?
On March 20, the International Day of Happiness, the United Nations released its 10th annual global happiness report, and Finland has been the happiest country for five years in a row.
In East Asia, Taiwan, at 26th place, surpassed Singapore, Japan and South Korea to be the first in East Asia, while Malaysia ranked 70th and Afghanistan, which was occupied by the Taliban last year, was the least happy country.
Malaysia is ranked 81st in 2021 and 35th in 2020.
Assessing people’s performance in the face of epidemics
The happiness report, published by UN Sustainable Development Solutions, ranked more than 150 countries and regions around the world.
The 2022 report focuses on a review and assessment of how people and countries are performing in the face of the epidemic, followed by an outlook on how the science of well-being is likely to evolve in the future.
Finland, Denmark, Iceland, top 3
In the happiness index ranking, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland are in the top 3, while Switzerland and the Netherlands are in 4th and 5th place. Other rankings include New Zealand at 10th, the United States at 16th, Canada at 15th, France at 20th, Japan at 54th, South Korea at 59th, the Philippines at 60th, Thailand at 61st, China at 72nd, Hong Kong at 81st, Malaysia at 70th, and neighbouring Indonesia at 87th.
In Southeast Asia, Taiwan ranked 26th in first place, followed by Singapore, ranked 27th.
The Russian invasion war had not yet occurred at the time of the statistics.
The reasons for Finland’s first place include smart urban planning, the use of green space, stress reduction and physical activity promotion, an effective tax system, and an efficient health and education system. And war-torn Afghanistan ranked last, as the most miserable country. Since the Taliban seized power last August, the humanitarian crisis in the country has worsened, and UNICEF estimates that 1 million children under the age of 5 may die of hunger this winter. Lebanon, which is facing an economic crisis, is second to last, and Simbawi is third to last.
The report is in its 10th year, and the latest report was completed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so the matter has not been accounted for.
