The inhabitants’ level of happiness seems to be improving in Romania. The 2017 World Happiness Report places Romania at number 57 among 155 countries surveyed. The country has a score of 5.825.

Romania was ranked 71st in the 2016 edition of the report, and 86th in the previous survey.

The results of the 2017 World Happiness Report are based on surveys undertaken between 2014 and 2016.

According to the recent report, Romanians feel happier than the Turks (69th), Hungarians (75th), Portuguese (89th), and Bulgarians (105th), among others. However, the inhabitants of Moldova seem to be happier than the Romanians (55th), and so are the Italians (48th), Poles (46th), and Czechs (23rd).

Norway tops the ranking with a score of 7.537, followed by Denmark – 7.522, and Iceland – 7.504. The top ten is completed by Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden.

“Although the top ten countries remain the same as last year, there has been some shuffling of places. Most notably, Norway has jumped into first position, followed closely by Denmark, Iceland, and Switzerland,” reads the report.

On the other hand, the Central African Republic, Burundi, Tanzania, and Syria are at the bottom of the list.

This is the fifth World Happiness Report. The report looks at six key variables, which account for three – quarters of the differences among countries. The six factors are GDP per capita, healthy years of life expectancy, social support (as measured by having someone to count on in times of trouble), trust (as measured by a perceived absence of corruption in government and business), perceived freedom to make life decisions, and generosity (as measured by recent donations, adjusted for differences in income).

Find the full report here.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com