Israel just missed out on a place in the top 10 happiest countries in the world, placing 11th in the latest world happiness index.
“The World Happiness Report 2018,” compiled by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranked 156 nations based on factors including GDP, social support structures, healthy lifestyles, social freedom, generosity and the absence of corruption. The data was based on Gallup World Polls from 2015 to 2017.
For the past two years, the same countries have dominated the top 10 spots on the happiness index. In the latest list, Finland took the No. 1 spot, followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.
The United States dropped four places in the latest index, falling to No. 18, just ahead of the United Kingdom (No. 19).
Israel’s neighbors Lebanon and Jordan ranked 88th and 90th respectively.
The Palestinians came in at No. 104, Iran No. 106 and Egypt No. 122. The least happy nation, according to the index, is Burundi in East Africa.
The index also looked at the happiness of immigrants in 117 of the 156 countries on the list, and found that the level of happiness among immigrant populations correlated with the level of happiness in their new countries.
