Vietnam jumps 11 places in world's happiest country index

Vietnam is considered one of the safest countries in the world. Illustration photo: Duc Anh

Since its launch in 2012, the report has been based primarily on GDP levels, life expectancy, social support, freedom and income, and corruption.

“Surprisingly, there was no decline in self-reported health, on average, based on people's assessment of their lives,” said Professor John Helliwell of the University of British Columbia, who also contributed to the report.

“One possible explanation is that people perceive Covid-19 as a common external threat that affects everyone, and this has created a greater sense of solidarity and empathy.”

Finland topped the ranking of the world's happiest countries in the World Happiness Report for the fourth consecutive year, the report was released on Friday.

The World Happiness Report is compiled annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Center. It assesses 149 countries around the world and takes into account indicators such as life expectancy, social support, corruption and others. The World Happiness Report was first published in 2012.

Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and Austria are among the 10 happiest countries. The US is in 14th place, the UK is in 18th place, and France is in 20th place.

Vietnam ranked 79th out of 149 countries in the latest World Happiness Report released by the United Nations, up 11 places from last year.

The least fortunate countries according to the UN are Zimbabwe (bottom of the ranking) and Tanzania.