"Happiness has decreased in Armenia": UN releases World Happiness  Report 2024

ArmInfo. Among the 143 countries of the world included in the United Nations' World  Happiness Report 2024, which provides the most diverse picture of happiness every year, Armenia ranks 82nd, compared to 79th a year ago.

At the same time, according to the Report, Armenia is the "happiest"  in our region. In particular, Georgia ranks  91st , Trkiye- 98th,  Iran - 100th and Azerbaijan - 101st. While Kazakhstan leads in the  EAEU with 49th place, followed by Russia (72nd), Kyrgyzstan (75th).  There is no Belarus in the current year's ranking.  Among the  remaining countries of the post-Soviet space, the highest level of  happiness is registered in Uzbekistan (47th), followed by Moldova  (71st), Tajikistan (88th ) and Ukraine (105th).  At the same time,  the TOP- 5 happiest countries in the world included Finland, Denmark,  Iceland, Sweden and Israel, while Afghanistan remains bottom of the  overall rankings as the world's 'unhappiest' nation.

"The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford  Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions  Network, and the WHR's Editorial Board. The report is produced under  the editorial control of the WHR Editorial Board.

The World Happiness Report reflects a worldwide demand for more  attention to happiness and well- being as criteria for government  policy. It reviews the state of happiness in the world today and  shows how the science of happiness explains personal and national  variations in happiness.

Life evaluations from the Gallup World Poll provide the basis for the  annual happiness rankings. They are based on answers to the main life  evaluation question. The Cantril Ladder asks respondents to think of  a ladder, with the best possible life for them being a 10 and the  worst possible life being a 0. They are then asked to rate their own  current lives on that 0 to 10 scale. The rankings are from nationally  representative samples over three years.

We use observed data on the six variables and estimates of their  associations with life evaluations to explain the variation across  countries. They include GDP per capita, social support, healthy life  expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption.  Our happiness  rankings are not based on any index of these six factors - the scores  are instead based on individuals' own assessments of their lives, in  particular, their answers to the single-item Cantril ladder  life-evaluation question, much as epidemiologists estimate the extent  to which life expectancy is affected by factors such as smoking,  exercise, and diet.  On 2 April 2012, , the first World Happiness  Report was presented. The World Happiness Report is released annually  around March 20th as part of the International Day of Happiness  celebration.".