Taiwan ranked first in East Asia and 26th globally in the latest World Happiness Report released March 14 by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network, marking the nation’s best-ever performance in the annual survey.
With a score of 6.441 out of 10, Taiwan moved up seven spots from last year. The nation placed second in Asia behind Israel in 11th and ahead of Singapore, 34th; Thailand, 46th; Japan, 54th; South Korea, 57th; and mainland China, 86th.
According to the survey, the happiest country in the world is Finland, followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia, in that order. Bottom of the list is Burundi, behind Central African Republic, South Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen, Rwanda, Syria, Liberia, Haiti and Malawi.
The report assessed 156 countries and territories worldwide via annual surveys of the life satisfaction of around 1,000 residents between 2015 and 2017. Satisfaction levels were evaluated based on six main indicators: income, healthy life expectancy, freedom, social support, good governance and generosity.
For the first time, this year’s report included a separate examination of the happiness and well-being of immigrants in 117 countries and territories through surveys conducted from 2005 to 2015. Finland also topped this ranking, with Taiwan placing in 38th.
“The most striking finding of the report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of immigrants and the locally born,” co-editor John Helliwell said. Although immigrants may come from nations with significantly different happiness levels, the results indicate that their life evaluations largely converge with those of residents in their new countries, he added.
Launched in 2012, the World Happiness Report aims to review the science of measuring and understanding subjective well-being. Six editions have been published to date, with Taiwan’s ranking improving in each from 46th in the first report to this year’s 26th. (CPY-E)
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