2013: Panama has highest level of well-being, Afghanistan & Syria the lowest

[eric82oslo]

A joint venture between Gallup and a global organization called Healthways, conducted some 133,000 interviews in 135 countries worldwide during 2013 (includes a couple of unrecognized territories as well, including Northern Cyprus). A few - but not many - countries have unfortunately been omitted, most prominently Switzerland, Norway, Cuba, Papua New Guinea, Oman, Surinam, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Namibia and a few more African countries. Together, these 135 countries are said to represent 99% of the entire world's population. United States is ranked shared 11th overall, with The Netherlands and Argentina, not bad at all. Notice that the top two highest ranked countries, as well as 8 out of the top 10, are American. That includes 6 Latin American countries, including, surprisingly, the two so-called failed states El Salvador and Guatemala, where crime and murder rates are among the highest in the world. Compare all this to Japan, which is ranked 64th, South Korea ranked 74th, China ranked 84th and Italy - believe it or not - ranked only 111th!

The subjective concept of well-being reported is constituted of 5 sub-categories; financial, social (love life and relationships/friendships), physical (good health & levels of energy), community (feeling safe + satisfaction with and pride in local community) and finally something called purpose (general satisfaction with everyday life + motivation to achieve goals). On each well-being sub-category, respondents were asked to rate themselves on a three point scale; thriving, struggling or suffering.

Overall ranking of all countries included in the survey (overall score, from 0 to 100), a.k.a. The Global Well-Being Index:

1. Panama - 61
2. Costa Rica - 44
3. Denmark - 40
4. Austria - 39
4. Brazil - 39
6. Uruguay - 37
6. El Salvador - 37
8. Canada - 34
8. Trinidad & Tobago - 34
8. Guatemala - 34

11. Netherlands - 33
11. United States - 33
11. Argentina - 33
14. Colombia - 32
15. Sweden - 31
15. Chile - 31
15. Mexico - 31
15. United Arab Emirates - 31
19. New Zealand - 30
19. Venezuela - 30

21. Nicaragua - 29
21. Saudi Arabia - 29
23. Australia - 28
23. United Kingdom - 28
23. Malta - 28
23. Bahrain - 28
27. Ireland - 27
27. Germany - 27
27. Paraguay - 27
30. Iceland - 26
30. Kuwait - 26
30. Ecuador - 26
30. Honduras - 26
34. Israel - 25
35. Spain - 24
35. Malaysia - 24
35. Philippines - 24
35. Kosovo - 24
35. Jamaica - 24
35. Turkmenistan - 24

41. Belgium - 23
41. Finland - 23
41. Bolivia - 23
44. Thailand - 22
44. Morocco - 22
46. Luxembourg - 21
46. Northern Cyprus - 21
46. Kyrgyzstan - 21
49. Portugal - 20
50. France - 19
50. Lebanon - 19
50. Dominican Republic - 19
53. Taiwan - 18
53. Slovenia - 18
53. Hungary - 18
53. Vietnam - 18
53. Mongolia - 18
58. Poland - 17
58. Sri Lanka - 17
58. Mauritania - 17

61. Slovakia - 16
61. Russia - 16
61. Peru - 16
64. Japan - 15
64. Estonia - 15
64. Cyprus - 15
64. Indonesia - 15
64. Kazakhstan - 15
64. Myanmar - 15
64. Bangladesh - 15
64. India - 15
64. Ethiopia - 15
64. Iraq - 15
74. South Korea - 14
74. Jordan - 14
74. Macedonia - 14
74. Romania - 14
74. Moldova - 14
74. Nagorno Karabakh - 14
80. Czech Republic - 13
80. Malawi - 13
80. Republic of the Congo - 13
80. Belarus - 13
84. China - 12
84. Bulgaria - 12
84. Angola - 12
84. Ghana - 12
84. Tajikistan - 12
84. Rwanda - 12
84. Pakistan - 12

91. Turkey - 11
91. Tunisia - 11
91. Cambodia - 11
91. Nepal - 11
91. Ivory Coast - 11
91. Mali - 11
91. Sierra Leone - 11
91. Yemen - 11
99. Montenegro - 10
99. Bosnia & Herzegovina - 10
99. Latvia - 10
99. Serbia - 10
99. Greece - 10
99. Egypt - 10
99. Nigeria - 10
99. Niger - 10
99. Palestine - 10
108. Azerbaijan - 9
108. Lithuania - 9
108. Guinea - 9

111. Italy - 8
111. Bhutan - 8
111. Albania - 8
111. Armenia - 8
111. Tanzania - 8
111. Ukraine - 8
111. Zimbabwe - 8
118. Croatia - 7
118. Gabon - 7
118. Botswana - 7
118. South Africa - 7
118. Kenya - 7
118. Georgia - 7
118. Senegal - 7
118. Cameroon - 7
118. Burkina Faso - 7
127. Benin - 6
127. Uganda - 6
127. Madagaskar - 6
130. Chad - 5
130. Congo - 5
132. Haiti - 3
133. Syria - 1
133. Afghanistan - 1

Seems like I might have forgotten a country here, since that only totals 134.

Click here to read the entire report: http://info.healthways.com/hs-fs/hub/162029/file-1634508606-pdf/WBI2013/Gallup-Healthways_State_of_Global_Well-Being_vFINAL.pdf

Read Gallup's shorter report here: http://www.gallup.com/poll/175694/country-varies-greatly-worldwide.aspx

[Hash]

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

>el salvador

[Knives]

Yes, I'm sure life is better in Mexico than it is in Australia. ..

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Wow, Panama won that by a huge margin.
 El Salvador being one of the most well-being? LOL.

[politicus]

Yes, I'm sure life is better in Mexico than it is in Australia. ..

Sarcasm detected , but it doesn't measure that, just that they feel better about themselves.

Its interesting that the Latin American zest for life makes them rate so high even in countries where living conditions are objectively quite harsh for most people (of course, having experienced quite high economic growth rates likely influence many Latin American countries as well). There is definitely a strong cultural component to this, countries where being "happy" is the norm and where there is a tacit pressure to always be optimistic rank high, this is the main reason why Denmark rates so high and a big factor in the US being ranked tenth IMO.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Yes, I'm sure life is better in Mexico than it is in Australia. ..

Life is obviously much better in El Salvador than Italy.

[Velasco]

Italy - believe it or not - ranked only 111th!

I can't believe that Bhutan is ranked in the same place as Italy, because "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product".

Its interesting that the Latin American zest for life makes them rate so high even in countries where living conditions are objectively quite harsh for most people (of course, having experienced quite high economic growth rates likely influence many Latin American countries as well).

That is not the case for El Salvador. For some reason, Colombia use to rank high in surveys measuring 'happiness'. I'm surprised because of the country's relatively low ranking in this one. Colombia has experienced high growth rates but, at the same time, it's one of the most unequal countries in the world (less than SA, but more than Brazil and Chile) and the Gini index only improved slightly in the past decade. Let alone violence, high poverty rates and people employed in the informal economy. Life is harsh for a majority of the population but the morale, wit and inventiveness of Colombians are truly remarkable. I don't want to hazard on the 'cultural factor', just to say that such talents prepare them to face up reality better than pessimistic attitudes. I envy them, honestly. Besides, they speak the Spanish language better than Spaniards do, at least the cultivated sector of the population. It's not strange that some of the best writers in our language come from there.