NEW YORK, March 19: Finland has been ranked as the country with the happiest population in the world for the ninth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report.
Nordic countries continue to dominate the rankings, with Iceland, Denmark and Sweden also placing in the top five.
Costa Rica is the only non-Nordic country among the leaders, ranking fourth.
Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg and Switzerland follow in sixth to 10th place.
Germany improved its position, rising to 17th place from 22nd last year. This puts it ahead of Austria, which fell two places to 19th.
The United States moved up slightly, climbing to 23rd from 24th.
The list includes 147 countries, with Afghanistan ranked last.
The report is released each year around the International Day of Happiness on March 20 by an interdisciplinary team led by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.
It assesses people’s life satisfaction and perceived quality of life across the globe, based on factors including economic performance, health, freedom, generosity and perception of corruption.
— BERNAMA-dpa