Japan slips to 54th in UN World Happiness rankings

March 15, 2018

Paris- Japan ranks 54th in the UN World Happiness Report 2018, down from 51st place last year.

According to the report released on Wednesday, Finland tops the list of the 156 surveyed countries, up from fifth, followed by Norway and Denmark.

Iceland came fourth, Switzerland fifth, the Netherlands sixth, Canada seventh, New Zealand eighth, Sweden ninth and Australia 10th.

The East African country of Burundi comes last.

The survey was conducted on 1,000 people in each country on their happiness levels on a scale of zero to 10 in the past three years. Data factored into the report includes income level, healthy life expectancy, social support and freedom.

Japan edges South Korea, which ranks 57th, and is far higher up the list than China, at 86th place, but far lower than the United States, 18th.

The bottom spots are mostly occupied by Middle East and African countries.

North Korea was not surveyed.

The latest survey, for the first time, covered migrants' happiness in more than 100 countries. Finland ranks top, while Syria is bottom. The United States comes 15th and Japan 25th.

The report says that people "who move to happier countries than their own will gain in happiness, while those who move to unhappier countries will tend to lose." Jiji Press