Poor Belgium, so unhappy!
Belgium has again dropped in the World Happiness ranking. Belgium is now in eighteenth place, well behind Finland that is first.
The prestigious World Happiness Report has identified Belgium as the eighteenth happiest country in the entire world. The ranking that includes 156 countries bases its ranking on the happiness of a country's citizens and subjective feelings of well-being. Despite the long, dark nights and the cold winters Nordic nations usually perform best in this ranking. Once again it’s Finland that tops the poll followed by Denmark and Norway.
Belgium tumbles from 16th to 18th spot in the ranking that this year is being compiled for a seventh time. Belgium is just happier than the US that follows, but well behind our neighbours in the Netherlands. These countries complete the Top 10 Iceland (4), Netherlands (5), Switzerland (6), Sweden (7), New Zealand (8), Canada (9), and Austria (10).
Germany doesn't feature in the Top 10 either, but in 17th position it is happier than Belgium, though Ireland (16) and even the UK (15) - despite the Brexit shambles - are happier!
If there are winners there are usually also losers: Yemen, India, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela performed worse than last year but this may have to do with changes to the way the ranking is calculated.