Finland ranks world’s happiest country

Finland is ranked as the world’s happiest country in the World Happiness Report 2018 published on Wednesday by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

The report which ranked 156 countries by their level of happiness and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants was released at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican.

SDSN prepared the index based on surveys conducted by Gallup International in 2015-2017, said a press release.

According to the findings, Finland’s immigrants are also the happiest in the world.

Another Nordic country, Norway, secured the second position on the list, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia.

The US is ranked 18th, sliding four notches from its position on last year’s index.

“The governments are increasingly using indicators of happiness to inform their policymaking decisions,” noted Co-editor Jeffrey D. Sachs of the report. “US policymakers should take note. The US happiness ranking is falling, in part because of the ongoing epidemics of obesity, substance abuse, and untreated depression.”

The report comes one week ahead of World Happiness Day to be observed on March 20.