Israel Ranked 11th Happiest Country in the World

Israel was again ranked the 11th happiest country in the world in 2017, according to the annual “World Happiness Report.”

By: United with Israel Staff

Israel was the 11th happiest country in the world in 2017, the fifth consecutive year Israel received this high ranking, after reaching 14th in the first 2012 report. Israel came out ahead of the US, Germany, Japan, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Britain, Brazil, France and Mexico.

The report’s top 10 happiest countries this year are Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.

The report’s 10 least happy countries include: Haiti, Yemen, South Sudan, Liberia, Guinea, Togo, Rwanda, Syria, Tanzania, Burundi and the Central African Republic.

According to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, over 93 percent of Israelis say they are happy or very happy with their lives, the Israel Hayom daily reported Monday.

The “World Happiness Report” is a survey of 155 countries about the state of global happiness. This year’s report was released Monday in Rome in advance of March 20th, the UN’s World Happiness Day. The happiness scale measures factors including: gross domestic product per person, life expectancy, freedom of choice, generosity, perceptions of corruption, and social support.

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the report, an initiative of the United Nations launched in 2012 to promote sustainable development on local, national, and global scales.

Leading experts across fields – economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, health, public policy and more – describe how measurements of well-being can be effectively used to assess national progress.

The happiest age groups were 20-24, 55-59, and 65-74. The number of Israelis aged 30-39, 45-49, and over 75 who said they were happy was lower, but still over 85 percent.

Israel also ranked 11th in terms of life expectancy in a recent Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report. The average Israeli lives 82.45 years, compared to the OECD average of 80.5.

A recent study also showed that Israeli Arabs enjoy the highest life expectancy in all Arab and Muslim countries.

The average life expectancy for women in Israel was 84.2 in 2017, a significant improvement compared to 79.5 in 1995 and 73.9 in 1975.

The average life expectancy for men was 80.7 in 2017, compared to 75.5 in 1995 and 70.3 in 1973.

Since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the average life expectancy for both men and women in Israel has increased by more than a decade.

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