The World Happiness Report is a survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries according to how happy their citizens consider themselves. The first on the list of happy countries is Finland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is in the 67th position.
Moving to another country
Scientists believe that there are ways for each of us to be happy, but the question arises: is it necessary to move to another country?
This interestingly titled report ranks more than 150 countries based on several factors such as real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom of decision-making in life, generosity, and perception of corruption. The greatest increase in happiness was recorded in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Afghanistan is ranked as the unhappiest nation, followed by Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Botswana.
The satisfaction category has now become a key benchmark for monitoring the performance of countries and corporate networks. The report, therefore, aims to identify key determinants of well-being that are expected to help countries design policies aimed at achieving happier societies.
Happiness as ”public policy”
The experiences of several countries confirm that countries with higher GDP and higher income per capita are not necessarily the happiest countries and that there is a link between the state of happiness and the rule of law.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the crucial importance of trust for human well-being. The number of deaths from COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021 was significantly lower in those countries with greater trust in public institutions and lower inequality.
When organizations, academics, or governments try to define progress by creating a new set of indicators, they increasingly include a measure of happiness or satisfaction. This reflects the strong public appetite for this conception of progress and the increasing availability of data on happiness.
Therefore, the science of happiness has much to offer governments in designing better policies. But it can never tell them how to deal with inequality or issues of long-term sustainability.
