NGUOI VIET
U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network
The second annual World Happiness Report, released Monday, says that people in the Scandinavian countries are the happiest with five African nations ranking in the bottom five.
So just where do we stand in our happiness? The United States ranked 17 among the 156 countries measured in the United Nations-sponsored report. And Vietnam? It came in at No. 63, behind Albania and just in front of Hong Kong.
The report was put together by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network and based on how satisfied people said they were with their lives and took into account considerations such as freedom, economic conditions, life expectancy and social support.
“There is now a rising worldwide demand that policy be more closely aligned with what really matters to people, as they themselves characterize their well-being,” report co-editor Jeffrey Sachs said in a statement. Sachs is director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York.
In all, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland and Australia finished in the Top 10 on the happiness index. The bottom five: Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Benin and Togo.
