On March 20, the International Day of Happiness, the United Nations (UN) unveiled the World Happiness Report for 2024. This comprehensive report compiles data from 143 countries and regions, offering a global ranking of happiness based on the life satisfaction of surveyed individuals.
While Finland remains at its top position for the seventh consecutive year, Hong Kong's ranking has continued to slip over the past three years, dropping from 77th in 2021 to 86th this year.
The 2024 report also provided insights into happiness rankings based on age. Among individuals under the age of 30, Hong Kong has a meagre ranking of 97th in terms of happiness. Those aged 30 to 44 fare slightly better, ranking at 89th, while individuals aged 45 to 59, as well as those aged 60 and above, achieved a higher ranking of 72nd and 74th, respectively.
As for neighbouring regions, Singapore came in at 30th, sitting right in front of Taiwan at 31st. Japan (51st), South Korea (52nd), and Thailand (58th) have all dropped but remain higher in happiness rankings than Hong Kong.
Top 20 happiest countries and regions in the world:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia
11. New Zealand
12. Costa Rica
13. Kuwait
14. Austria
15. Canada
16. Belgium
17. Ireland
18. Czech Republic
19. Lithuania
20. United Kingdom
The United Nations' World Happiness Report has been published since 2012. Using data from the Gallup research company and analysed by a team led by the University of Oxford, the report assesses the life satisfaction of individuals in various countries and regions based on factors such as per capita GDP, social support, life expectancy, freedom, and corruption levels, on a scale of 0 to 10. To ensure fairness and accuracy, the report compares average results from the past three years as single-year data can be volatile. Therefore, this year's report was based on data collected between 2021 and 2023.
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