The Philippines has secured the second spot as the happiest country in Southeast Asia, as revealed by the latest annual World Happiness Report issued by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Center in the United Kingdom.
Out of 143 nations evaluated, the Philippines surged to the 53rd position from last year’s 76th out of 137 countries. Respondents gauged their overall life satisfaction on a scale from zero to 10, with 10 indicating the highest level of happiness.
This year’s ranking closely mirrors the Philippines’ 52nd position in the 2020 report, which encompassed data predating the COVID-19 pandemic. Finland retained its lead for the seventh consecutive year, trailed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Israel in the top five.
The top 10 happiest countries also included the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia. Conversely, Afghanistan was identified as the least happy, followed by Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Congo, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Eswatini, and Zambia.
In the Southeast Asian region, Singapore clinched the top spot overall, ranking 30th globally. Following the Philippines were Vietnam (54th), Thailand (58th), Malaysia (59th), Indonesia (80th), Laos (94th), Myanmar (118th), and Cambodia (119th).
The report drew on three-year data from the Gallup World Poll, published in collaboration with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This year’s findings were derived from data spanning 2021 to 2023.
According to the report, “Global happiness inequality has increased by more than 20 percent over the past dozen years, in all regions and age groups, to an extent that differs a lot by age and by region.”