We’re number eight!

Fresh on the heels of a survey in which Auckland was the fourth-equal best city in the world to live in, comes a study ranking the ten happiest countries on earth: New Zealand is listed at eight. Neither the US nor Australia made the list. New Zealand and Canada (at 6) were the only non-European countries on the list.

The report attempted to categorise subjective well-being—how satisfying people find their lives, whether their lives are dominated by positive things or negative things. The economies of the countries also played a role in people’s feelings of happiness, with other researchers finding that low unemployment and strong social and community ties were factors in people’s happiness.

It’s an interesting story but, like most New Zealanders, I take it all with a grain of salt and a shrug of the shoulders. New Zealanders like the world to notice and like them, but when recognition comes, it’s almost always pretty much ignored or even made fun of (as happened recently with the fourth-best ranking for Auckland).

All of which means that New Zealanders really are pretty happy—happy enough to enjoy having a laugh at themselves. That, and to have a laugh that Auckland did better than Sydney and New Zealand did better than Australia.

The happiest countries on earth:
1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Netherlands
4. Sweden
5. Ireland
6. Canada
7. Switzerland
8. New Zealand
9. Norway
10. Belgium