The right to happiness is fundamental, said Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Various factors like physical and mental health, job security, relationships and standards of living are said to affect the level of happiness.
According to the United Nations General Assembly's World Happiness Report 2013, which reveals just how happy countries really are based on 2010-2012 surveys, Denmark is ranked the first, followed by Norway in second place and Switzerland comes in third.
The other countries with the highest levels of happiness are Netherlands, which is ranked fourth, Sweden, which comes in fifth place and Canada is ranked sixth.
Australia is ranked 10th while the U.S. occupies the 17th spot in the rankings.
People in over 150 countries were surveyed and annual national average score was calculated based on six key factors like real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and generosity.
The 2013 report, the second of its kind to be released, suggests that the systematic measurement and analysis of happiness can provide guidance to improve the world's well-being and sustainable development.
The report also says that happy people live longer, are more productive, earn more, and are also better citizens.
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Business News
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.