SURVEY: ARMENIA AND ZIMBABWE ARE THE UNHAPPIEST COUNTRIES
APA
Feb 13 2009
Azerbaijan
Baku. Nijat Mustafayev – APA-ECONOMICS. The World Values Survey (WVS)
released results of a survey based on quizzes asked 350 000 people in
97 nations containing 90 percent of the world’s population to found
out how happy the people living there are.
According to the survey, Denmark, with its democracy, social equality
and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world.
Interestingly, the Danish economy is a mix of low inflation and
low unemployment with emphasis on entrepreneurship and lower taxes
and these qualities combined with high marks for innovation and
technological savvy lift Denmark to the top of the ranking, according
to a Forbes’ list of the best countries for business.
In the happiness index, Puerto Rico and Colombia also rank highly,
along with Northern Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, the
Netherlands, Canada and Sweden.
The United States ranks ahead of more than 80 countries, but below
15 others in happiness levels.
Out of the former USSR countries, only Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have
satifactory happiness levels while Russia is left behind.
Ninety-seven percent of respondents an exceptionally high response
rate gave answers that strongly correlated with how satisfied they
were with various aspects of life such as gender equality and tolerance
of minorities.
Interestingly, countries whose respondents reported high levels of
happiness were much likelier to be democracies than were countries
that rank lower in terms of their citizens’ happiness.
Three of the world’s poorer countries with long histories of repressive
government Moldova, Armenia and Zimbabwe are at the bottom of the
happiness list. Virtually all of the lowest ranking nations struggle
with legacies of authoritarian rule and widespread poverty.
The survey, first done in 1981, has kept to two simple questions:
"Taking all things together, would you say you are very happy, rather
happy, not very happy, not at all happy?" And, "All things considered,
how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?"
Countries (Ranked from happiest to least happy)
Happiness Ranking (Negative scores indicate that a majority of the
population is unhappy/dissatisfied with life)
1 Denmark 4.24
2 Puerto-Rico 4.21
3 Columbia 4.18
4 Iceland 4.15
5 North Ireland 4.13
6 Ireland 4.12
7 Switzerland 3.96
8 Netherlands 3.77
9 Canada 3.76
10 Austria 3.68
11 Salvador 3.67
12 Malta 3.61
13 Luxemburg 3.61
14 Sweden 3.58
15 New Zealand 3.57
16 United States 3.55
17 Guatemala 3.53
18 Mexico 3.52
19 Norway 3.50
20 Belgium 3.40
21 United Kingdom 3.39
22 Australia 3.26
23 Venezuela 3.25
24 Trinidad 3.25
25 Finland 3.24
26 Saudi Arabia 3.17
27 Thailand 3.02
28 Cyprus 2.96
29 Nigeria 2.82
30 Brasilia 2.81
31 Singapore 2.72
32 Argentina 2.69
33 Andorra 2.64
34 Malaysia 2.61
35 Western Germany 2.60
36 Vietnam 2.52
37 France 2.50
38 Philippines 2.47
39 Uruguay 2.43
40 Indonesia 2.37
41 Chile 2.34
42 Dominican Republic 2.29
43 Japan 2.24
44 Spain 2.16
45 Israel 2.08
46 Italy 2.06
47 Portugal 2.01
48 Taiwan 1.83
49 Eastern Germany 1.78
50 Slovenia 1.77
51 Ghana 1.73
52 Poland 1.66
53 Czech Republic 1.66
54 China 1.64
55 Mali 1.62
56 Kyrgyzstan 1.59
57 Jordan 1.46
58 Greece 1.45
59 South Africa 1.39
60 Turkey 1.27
61 Peru 1.24
62 South Korea 1.23
63 Hong-Kong 1.16
64 Iran 1.12
65 Bangladesh 1.00
66 Bosnia 0.94
67 Croatia 0.87
68 Morocco 0.87
69 India 0.85
70 Uganda 0.69
71 Zambia 0.68
72 Algeria 0.60
73 Burkina-Faso 0.60
74 Egypt 0.52
75 Slovakia 0.41
76 Hungary 0.36
77 Montenegro 0.19
78 Tanzania 0.13
79 Azerbaijan 0.13
80 Macedonia -0.06
81 Rwanda -0.15
82 Pakistan -0.30
83 Ethiopia -0.30
84 Estonia -0.36
85 Lithuania -0.70
86 Latvia -0.75
87 Romania -0.88
88 Russia -1.01
89 Georgia -1.01
90 Bulgaria -1.09
91 Iraq -1.36
92 Albania -1.44
93 Ukraine -1.69
94 Belarus -1.74
95 Moldova -1.74
96 Armenia -1.80
97 Zimbabwe -1.92
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress