Israel is the fourth happiest country in the world, according to a report by a UN office on happiness. The study released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network is based on data from global surveys of people in more than 150 countries.
Countries are ranked for their level of happiness based on their average life evaluation over the previous three years, in this case 2020 to 2022.
The report identifies the happiest nations, those at the very bottom of the happiness scale, and all those in between, as well as the factors that tend to lead to greater happiness.
For the sixth year in a row, Finland is the happiest country in the world, while Denmark and Iceland complete the podium. In general, the Nordic countries all score highly on the criteria the report uses to reach its conclusions: healthy life expectancy, GDP per capita, social support, low corruption, a generous community where people care for each other, and freedom to make key life decisions.
Israel moves up to fourth place this year, up from ninth place last year. The Netherlands (5th), Switzerland (8th), Luxembourg (9th) and New Zealand (10th) are also in the top 10.