Armenia ranks 128th in 2013 World Happiness Report

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia occupies the 128th place in the 2013 World Happiness Report released Monday, Sept 9, by Columbia University's Earth Institute.

It’s a better result than Georgia’s (134th) but worse than that of Azerbaijan and Turkey which rank 116th and 77th respectively.

Despite a 7% economic growth, Armenia doesn’t have an outlet to the sea and the high level of unemployment forces people earn living in other countries. The Strategic Program of Perspective Development for 2012-2025 envisages reduction of extreme poverty to 1,8%.

Meanwhile, the Armenian Finance Ministry forecast 32,1% poverty for 2013, while the number of extremely poor people will make 2,7% of the population.

The United States ranked 17th in the report, trailing the United Arab Emirates, Panama and Mexico. Libyans were in the middle of the pack in 78th, while the globe's most sorrowful citizens reside in West African neighbors Benin and Togo.

The happiest people live in Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands and Sweden.

The report ranks the United Kingdom as the 22nd happiest country in the world. Other major nations included Germany (26), Japan (43), Russia (68) and China (93).

The global survey was conducted between 2010 and 2012 and follows the Earth Institute's first rankings released last year. While "the world has become a slightly happier and more generous place over the past five years," economic and political upheavals have resulted in greatly reduced levels of well being for some nations, the report said.

The paper's authors say six factors account for three-quarters of the differences among residents of surveyed countries: GDP per capita; Life expectancy; Perceived national corruption; Freedom to make life choices; Generosity of fellow citizens; Having someone to rely on in times of trouble.