The latest data from the World Values Survey conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research shows the level of happiness in 97 countries.

The data was released just a couple of months ago, with different news services giving their own spin on the data. The best list I could find with all the countries in order is here, in this pdf file.

I just wanted to add my two cents as it relates to the Xombytes I recently wrote on Epicurus and Money.

The top 10 happy countries are, in order:
Denmark
Puerto Rico
Colombia
Iceland
N. Ireland
Rep. of Ireland
Switzerland
Netherlands
Canada
Austria

USA came 16th, Britain 21st. Curious that there is separate data for Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, but not for England, Scotland or Wales.

The bottom 10 are, in descending order with Zimbabwe deeply stuck at the bottom:
Russia
Georgia
Bulgaria
Iraq
Albania
Ukraine
Belarus
Moldova
Armenia
Zimbabwe

What is immediately striking from the bottom 10 is that former Soviet satellites that do not as yet have the comfort of the European Union and/or NATO are very unsure of their position - this, strangely includes Russia. The data was collected in 2007, so before the war in Georgia, although the locals were obviously well aware of the tensions.

What is also interesting is to see which countries have become happier in the last 10 or 20 years. This data seems harder to come by and is restricted to those countries where enough historical data exists. The most striking increases have been in Mexico, India, Ireland, Puerto Rico, South Korea, as well as Ukraine, Moldova, Slovenia, Nigeria, Turkey and Russia.

Life in the Soviet Union must have been particularly grim for those countries who feel things are getting better because they are starting from rock bottom.

Britain and Germany are two notable exceptions to the "world is getting happier" scenario as showing decreases in their indices. To me, Britain is now too crowded, too expensive, too much focus on the rat-race and poor weather.

Now, many sites have commented that increased economic growth leads to greater happiness. But this is only true for those developing countries who are seeing life go beyond mere existence. New wealth means a better quality home, better healthcare, better education, more savings if things turn downwards.

But a look at the G8 nations shows that actual GDP per head has little to do with happiness. Also, China is barely above average and Hong Kong is well below par. What China has in terms of economic growth is undermined by basic lack of freedoms.

So that beyond the happiness that comes from financial security there are other factors, all of which are aspects of personal freedoms. Whether that is political freedom in terms of a functioning democracy, or just the basic freedom to move around and do what one pleases without a CCTV camera at every corner and 101 laws you've never heard of until some uniform issues an on the spot fine.

I wrote the Epicurus articles before seeing the data - although included a small snippet of it at one point - but it struck me how close the philosopher was to the statistical analysis. Money is important if you don't have any, but once you have enough then the things that are really important are close friends, personal freedom and the freedom to think for yourself.

So, do you think the research has placed your country at about the right level of communal happiness?