Global ‘happiness index’ ranks Fiji at helm

Fiji is the happiest country and home to the happiest people, according to the Global Barometer of Happiness.

The “happiness barometer’  is based on responses of nearly 53,000 people in 58 countries who were asked to state whether they perceived themselves as "happy" or "unhappy" in 2011.

The global survey, conducted on the eve of every new year since 1977, was carried out by Canadian pollsters Leger Marketing and its partners, the world’s largest independent network of opinion pollsters, the WIN Association.

And, in a surprise to the people who conducted the polls, Afghanistan recorded higher happiness numbers of 35 per cent than the United States at 33 per cent.

The top five countries for happiness, besides Fiji are Nigeria (84 per cent net happiness), the Netherlands (77 per cent), Switzerland (76 per cent) and Ghana (72 per cent).

The Global Barometer of Happiness has a margin of error of plus or minus three to five per cent. People were surveyed face-to-face and over the phone.

By Lavenia Vuadreu

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