Revealed: Denmark is officially the world's happiest country (again) while people in Burundi and Syria are the least content

  • Scandinavian country beats Switzerland into second as happiest nation 
  • The country has a high GDP, good social welfare and high medical care
  • Burundi was ranked as the least happiest nation followed by Syria
  • The UK ranked 23rd while the US was placed in 13th place behind Israel

It is a country more famous for its violent Viking past and the melancholy brooding of Hamlet, but Denmark has emerged as the happiest nation in the world.

The Scandinavian country, which has a population of around 5.6 million, knocked Switzerland into second place to take the title of the happiest country in the 2016 World Happiness Report.

A combination of a relatively high GDP, good healthy life expectancy and high levels of social support gave the country its edge over the other nations.

Despite having high taxes and a reputation for a fierce Viking past, people in Denmark have been ranked as the happiest in the world (stock picture) in the latest edition of the World Happiness Report. It found people in the Scandinavian country could expect high income, good healthy life expectancy and social support

Despite having high taxes and a reputation for a fierce Viking past, people in Denmark have been ranked as the happiest in the world (stock picture) in the latest edition of the World Happiness Report. It found people in the Scandinavian country could expect high income, good healthy life expectancy and social support

The country is also well known for its generous state welfare and for its egalitarian nature.

It was closely followed by Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Finland as the next happiest places to live.

At the other end of the spectrum, Syria and Burundi were ranked as the least happiest countries out of the 157 assessed.

The report was released ahead of the UN's World Happiness Day this weekend.

Jeffrey Sachs, from Columbia University, who helped write the report, said that happiness and well-being should be on every nation's agenda.

Denmark is well known for its generous state welfare and for its egalitarian nature. It was closely followed by Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Finland as the next happiest places to live. The top 50 countries are shown

Denmark is well known for its generous state welfare and for its egalitarian nature. It was closely followed by Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Finland as the next happiest places to live. The top 50 countries are shown

THE WORLD'S HAPPIEST COUNTRIES  

1. Denmark

2. Switzerland 

3. Iceland

4. Norway

5. Finland

6. Canada

7. Netherlands 

8. New Zealand

9. Australia

10. Sweden

11. Israel

12. Austria

13. United States

14. Costa Rica

15. Puerto Rico

16. Germany

17. Brazil

18. Belgium 

19. Ireland 

20. Luxembourg 

21. Mexico 

22. Singapore

23. United Kingdom 

24. Chile

25. Panama

26. Argentina

27. Czech Republic 

28. United Arab Emirates 

29. Uruguay 

30. Malta

31. Colombia

32. France 

33. Thailand 

34. Saudi Arabia 

35. Taiwan 

36. Qatar

37. Spain 

38. Algeria 

39. Guatemala 

40. Suriname 

41. Kuwait 

42. Bahrain

43. Trinidad and Tobago 

44. Venezuela 

45. Slovakia 

46. El Salvador 

47. Malaysia 

48. Nicaragua 

49. Uzbekistan 

50. Italy

51. Ecuador

52. Belize

53. Japan

54. Kazakhstan

55. Moldova

56. Russia

57. Poland

58. South Korea

59. Bolivia

0. Lithuania

61. Belarus6

62. North Cyprus6

63. Slovenia

64. Peru

65. Turkmenistan 

66. Mauritius

67. Libya

68. Latvia

69. Cyprus

70. Paraguay 

71. Romania

72. Estonia

73. Jamaica

74. Croatia

75. Hong Kong 

76. Somalia

77. Kosovo 

78. Turkey 

79. Indonesia 

80. Jordan

81. Azerbaijan

82. Philippines

83. China 

84. Bhutan 

85. Kyrgyzstan

86. Serbia

87. Bosnia and Herzegovina

88. Montenegro 

89. Dominican Republic 

90. Morocco 

91. Hungary 

92. Pakistan 

93. Lebanon 

94. Portugal

95. Macedonia 

96. Vietnam 

97. Somaliland region 

98. Tunisia 

99. Greece

100. Tajikistan 

101. Mongolia 

102. Laos 

103. Nigeria 

104. Honduras 

105. Iran 

106.Zambia

107. Nepal 

108. Palestinian Territories 

109.Albania 

110. Bangladesh 

111. Sierra Leone 

112. Iraq

113. Namibia 

114. Cameroon 

115. Ethiopia 

116. South Africa 

117. Sri Lanka 

118. India 

119. Myanmar

120. Egypt

121. Armenia 

122. Kenya

123. Ukraine 

124. Ghana 

125. Congo (Kinshasa) 

126. Georgia 

127. Congo (Brazzaville) 

128. Senegal 

129. Bulgaria

130. Mauritania 

131. Zimbabwe

132. Malawi 

133. Sudan

134. Gabon

135. Mali 

136. Haiti 

137. Botswana 

138. Comoros 

139. Ivory Coast

140. Cambodia

141. Angola 

142. Niger 

143. South Sudan 

144. Chad

145. Burkina Faso 

146. Uganda 

147. Yemen 

148. Madagascar 

149. Tanzania 

150. Liberia

151. Guinea 

152. Rwanda 

153. Benin 

154. Afghanistan

155. Togo 

156. Syria 

157. Burundi 

He said: 'Human well-being should be nurtured through a holistic approach that combines economic, social and environmental objectives.

'Measuring self-reported happiness and achieving well-being should be on every nation's agenda as they begin to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals.

'Indeed the Goals themselves embody the very idea that human well-being should be nurtured through a holistic approach that combines economic, social and environmental objectives.

'Rather than taking a narrow approach focused solely on economic growth, we should promote societies that are prosperous, just, and environmentally sustainable.'

The landlocked African state of Burundi was found to be one of the most miserable places in the world. The country has been torn apart by civil war and is the poorest nation in the world. Millions of people have been displaced by the violent struggles in the country (refugees on the shorts of Lake Tanganyika pictured)

The landlocked African state of Burundi was found to be one of the most miserable places in the world. The country has been torn apart by civil war and is the poorest nation in the world. Millions of people have been displaced by the violent struggles in the country (refugees on the shorts of Lake Tanganyika pictured)

People in Denmark enjoy high levels of job security and will receive state support if they lose their jobs or fall ill. The high taxes paid in the Scandinavian nation are reinvested into schools, universities and healthcare. The country also suffers few natural disasters and has little corruption (woman in Copenhagen pictured)

People in Denmark enjoy high levels of job security and will receive state support if they lose their jobs or fall ill. The high taxes paid in the Scandinavian nation are reinvested into schools, universities and healthcare. The country also suffers few natural disasters and has little corruption (woman in Copenhagen pictured)

The report is the fourth of its kind to be produced, using a variety of factors to measure happiness around the world since the first World Happiness Report in 2012.

People's health, access to medical care, family relations, job security, political freedom and levels of government corruption are all among the measures used to assess happiness.

MONEY CAN'T MAKE YOU HAPPY 

While many people believe that money may be the path to happiness, it turns out that increases in income do not affect most people's levels of life satisfaction.

Researchers tracked 18,000 adults over a nine-year period in the UK and Germany, asking them annually about their income level and how satisfied they were with life.

They found that people with higher salaries were no more likely to have a high life satisfaction than those who didn't. 

The findings of this research contradict a previous study which suggested purchasing material goods gives us more frequent joy over the course of weeks and months, compared to the happiness we get from an experience.

The researchers said experiences provide intense feelings that will eventually fade, but material things remind a person about the happiness they felt when they first received it.

The University of British Columbia measured people's happiness up to five times over a two-week period after they purchased or received something material or experiential.  

The UK was ranked in 23rd place in the assessment, after slipping two places from the previous year, while the US came 13th overall, behind Canada in sixth place, followed by the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Israel and Australia.

China was ranked in 83rd place and Russia came in 56th place.

Some countries that have experienced dramatic turmoil in recent years also saw significant drops in their rankings since the previous report in 2015.

Greece, for example, slipped from 120th to 126th place while Spain and Italy, which were also hit hard by the Eurozone crisis also fell.

Despite high taxes, Denmark was able to take the top spot because much of these is reinvested in schools, universities and free access to healthcare.

Students are given monthly grants for up to seven years while 43 per cent of the top jobs in the public sector are held by women.

Many feel confident that if they lose their jobs or fall ill, the state will support them.

The country also has to deal with few natural disasters and has little corruption.

Knud Christensen, a 39-year-old social worker from Copenhagen, said 'We have no worries.

'And if we do worry, it's about the weather. Will it rain today, or remain gray or will it be cold?'

Syria was ranked as the second last country in the happiness report. The nation has been devastated by civil war as rebels try to oust President Bashar al-Assad. Recent airstrikes by Russian forces have forced millions to flee towns and cities (a boy being comforted in the rubble in the Syrian city of Aleppo is pictured)

Syria was ranked as the second last country in the happiness report. The nation has been devastated by civil war as rebels try to oust President Bashar al-Assad. Recent airstrikes by Russian forces have forced millions to flee towns and cities (a boy being comforted in the rubble in the Syrian city of Aleppo is pictured)

Kaare Christensen, a university professor in demography and epidemiology in Odense, where fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen was born, says it doesn't take much to satisfy Danes.

'They are happy with what they get. Danes have no great expectations about what they do or what happens to them,' she said

Christian Bjoernskov, an economy professor at the University of Aarhus, Denmark's second- largest city, believes feelings self-assurance and self-determination have a lot to do with it.

'Danes feel confident in one another... when we stand together we can succeed,' he says. 'And they also have a strong belief they can decide their own lives.'

The Roman Catholic Church has welcomed the study, declaring that happiness is 'linked to the common good, which makes it central to Catholic social teaching,' according to Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, one of Pope Francis' key advisers at the Vatican.

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