Canada Was Ranked The 13th Happiest Country In The World
Do you feel the happiness?🇨🇦
The flag of Canada with snow-covered mountains in the background.
March 20 is the International Day of Happiness, and things are pretty good in Canada. Though they could be better. The latest World Happiness Report (WHR) ranked Canada the 13th happiest country in the world. The U.S. trails by two spots in 15th place.
The annual report is based on data from the Gallup World Poll. Poll respondents are asked to rate their life on a scale from one to 10, 10 representing their idea of the "best possible life." Report authors say they collect about 1,000 such "life evaluations" from each country, weigh them to create national averages, and then rank countries based on three-year averages of those averages.
Nordic countries, known for their wealth, extensive social safety nets and culture of work-life balance, unsurprisingly dominate the list. Finland came out on top for the sixth year in a row, according to the report. Also in the top 10 are Denmark (second place), Iceland (third), Sweden (sixth) and Norway (seventh).
The only non-European countries in the top 10 are Israel, in fourth place, and New Zealand, in 10th.
The Netherlands (fifth), Switzerland (eighth) and Luxembourg (ninth) round out the merry bunch.
In addition to the U.S., Canada is in the company of Austria (11th), Australia (12th) and Ireland (14th).
Completing the top 20 are Germany (16th), Belgium (17th), Czechia (18th), the U.K. (19th) and Lithuania (20th).
At the very bottom of the WHR ranking are Lebanon and, in last place, Afghanistan.
Report authors say a country's GDP, its residents' "sense of freedom to make key life decisions" and their "perception of corruption" may have among the strongest effect on their life evaluations.
