People in Denmark, Malta and Switzerland are the happiest in the world according to a new survey, the Berlingske Tidende newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The trio topped a list of 90 countries where people have been polled about how they ”enjoy their life as a whole”.
The listings in The World Database of Happiness were based on research conducted for the past 20 years by Professor Ruut Veenhoven at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
The top trio scored eight on a scale of zero to 10. They were shadowed by Iceland and Ireland with 7,8, while Ghana’s score of 7,7 put it ahead of Canada, Guatemala, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Sweden with 7,6.
Ghana’s result may, however, be slightly inflated due to uncertainty about sampling, and a more accurate score would likely be about six, Veenhoven said on the database’s website.
Trends in Denmark suggested an increase in life satisfaction, bucking trends in Switzerland and Malta where it is decreasing.
The Nordic country meets five main criteria for a society that experiences well-being. It is a high-income country, democratic, well-governed with a low level of corruption, has a large degree of personal freedom and is tolerant, Veenhoven said in remarks reported by the Danish newspaper.
Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Zimbabwe and Tanzania were at the bottom of the list with Tanzania scoring a lowly 3,2.
More than 2 400 general population surveys conducted from 1946 to 2004 in 90 nations were included in the database. — Sapa-DPA
On the net:
The World Database of Happiness