S’pore is Asia’s happiest country due to GDP per capita & low corruption: World Happiness Report

Singapore is the happiest country in Asia according to the World Happiness Report

For the second consecutive year, Singapore has been ranked the happiest country in Asia.

Source: Unsplash, for illustration purposes only

In the World Happiness Report 2024 published yesterday (20 March), the Lion City emerged 30th out of 143 countries.

The report’s co-author told CNBC Make It that Singapore outshone its counterparts due to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and low corruption levels.

Singapore ranks 30th out of 143 countries

The report’s main data source is the Gallup World Poll, which employs the measure of subjective wellbeing.

Respondents are asked to self-assess their lives based on an image of a ladder. 10 represents the best possible life, whereas 0 is the worst possible.

Source: Hello Happy Design

Among the 143 countries surveyed, Finland tops the list with an average life evaluation of 7.741.

Denmark and Iceland follow closely behind, with scores of 7.583 and 7.525 respectively.

Singapore is ranked 30th with a score of 6.523.

Happiest country in Asia for second consecutive year

Although 30th may not seem so impressive, Singapore is ranked the happiest among all the Asian countries. The top 10 happiest countries in Asia and their average life evaluation scores are:

1. Singapore (6.523)
2. Taiwan, Republic of China (6.503)
3. Japan (6.060)
4. South Korea (6.058)
5. Philippines (6.048)
6. Vietnam (6.043)
7. Thailand (5.976)
8. Malaysia (5.975)
9. China (5.973)
10. Mongolia (5.696)

Last year, Singapore was also ranked the happiest Asian country, with a marginally higher score of 6.587.

Back then, Singapore ranked 25th out of 137 countries in 2023.

High rankings attributed to GDP per capita & low perception of corruption

Apart from the self-assessed life evaluation scores, interdisciplinary experts also look into areas like GDP, life expectancy, sense of freedom and perception of corruption.

These are the factors that account for differences across nations.

According to CNBC, the report’s editor, Shun Wang, cited Singapore’s GDP per capita and “very low perception of corruption” as key factors for its high ranking.

However, the country does not fare as well when it comes to sense of freedom, perceived social support and generosity.

De Neve, another of the report’s editors, said that Singapore was expected to be in the top 20 countries given its objective indicators. He remarked,

I would love to challenge the Singaporean government and the people of Singapore to find ways to leverage the extraordinary city-state that they’ve created into ways of improving quality of life as people experience it.

Also read: S’pore Ranked 5th Least Corrupt Nation, Only Asian Country In Top 10 For 28 Years

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Featured image adapted from William and Camera on Flickr.