Vietnam is the 94th happiest country in the world

By Ngoc Dinh March 20, 2019 | 08:34 pm PT

A young man in Hanoi celebrated after the Vietnamese football team won against Jordan in January. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

Vietnam ranks 94 out of 156 countries in terms of happiness, compared to the 95th last year, said a report released Wednesday.

According to the World Happiness Report 2019 released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) on March 20, The International Day of Happiness marked by the UN in 2013, Vietnam's score in happiness is 5.175, an increase compared to its score of 5.103 in last year's report.

The happiness level was measured based on factors including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and absence of corruption.

Vietnam ranks lower than several countries in Southeast Asia including Singapore (34), Thailand (52), Phillipines (69), Malaysia (80) and Indonesia (92). Ranked right above Vietnam at 93rd place is China.

Top five countries in happiness level are dominated by European nations, including Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands.

Finland topped the list as it did last year. It is considered a country with beautiful nature, safe, affordable child care, subsidized and free education.

South Sudan, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Rwanda were at the bottom of the list.