2018 World Happiness Report

What is the UN 2018 World Happiness Report?
The UN 2018 World Happiness Report is based on the most recent survey replies for the years 2015 to 2017 and uses the Cantril ladder, which is a scale that spans from 10 to 0, from highest to lowest respectively. The number of ranked countries is 156, with the top 10 being fairly consistent except for small changes in the order. The biggest shift was Finland, it climbed up from 5th to 1st place! Following closely in 2nd place is Norway, with Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland in the 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively.

Here are the rest of the top 10:

*Source of figure 2.2

How are the countries ranked?
The rankings follow the Gallup world poll method and concern 6 major factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. Respondents evaluate their current lives on the ladder, placing their scores in accordance with these factors. The Dystopia factor represents an imaginary country which would have the lowest scores and this number is subtracted from the final scores of the other six factors.

Our place in the big picture
The Netherlands ranks 6th in the report, the same score as previous years, which means the happiness levels have remained stable. But of course, we can always aim higher!

Thus, what are the implications of this report for us? Work takes up a significant portion of our time so stimulating a happy and engaged atmosphere contributes to the overall happiness of our lives as well. That’s why at 2DAYSMOOD, we’re continuously working towards a world where organizations thrive thanks to the enthusiasm and high motivation of employees! It is also very important to measure those efforts so that we can recommend future actions with more precision.

Our own happiness survey
Coincidentally, 2DAYSMOOD is also conducting a survey about emotions at work together with the University of Utrecht, here in the Netherlands. We will share a whitepaper on the results soon. Stay tuned.