Singapore is the happiest country in Asia according to the 2024 World Happiness Report.
Matthew Ng | E+ | Getty Images
Singapore is the happiest country in Asia for the second year in a row, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report released Wednesday.
The city-state ranked 30 out of the 143 places surveyed for the study.
Topping the list this year is Finland, followed closely by Denmark and Iceland.
The World Happiness Report is a joint effort from some of the world’s leading researchers and wellbeing scientists. The happiness ranking in this study is supported by data from the Gallup World Poll which measures individuals’ average life evaluations, taken over three years from 2021 to 2023.
The top 10 happiness rankings in Asia:
- Singapore
- Taiwan
- Japan
- South Korea
- Philippines
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- China
- Mongolia
Experts also analyzed data in six key factors: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity and perception of corruption. Their research into these areas provided deeper insight and potential explanations for the subjective quality of life ratings people gave.
“These factors help to explain the differences across nations, while the rankings themselves are based only on the answers people give when asked to rate their own lives,” according to a statement by the World Happiness Report.
The data gathered for the six factors came from organizations like the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the Gallup World Poll.
“Singapore did very well in terms of GDP per capita, one of the highest ranking in our dataset,” Shun Wang, co-author and editor of the 2024 World Happiness Report told CNBC Make It.
Singapore is also very good in terms of its perception of corruption… lowest among all countries in our data.
Shun Wang
Co-author and editor, 2024 World Happiness Report
“That means Singapore’s government is really clean and their people really have a very low perception of corruption … even lower, you know, than Denmark or Norway,” Wang added.
Denmark and Norway ranked 2nd and 7th, respectively, on this year’s report.
Additionally, Singapore “does particularly well on generating healthy life expectancy, so long lives and healthy lives,” according to Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and editor of the 2024 World Happiness Report.
Despite this, Singapore ranks lower in terms of its perceived social support, freedom to make life choices, and generosity.
“Singapore is punching below its weight,” said De Neve. “Given all the objective indicators about Singapore, you’d expect Singapore to be in the top 20 of the World Happiness Report.”
“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,” De Neve said.
In response to CNBC’s request for comment, Singapore’s government pointed to its latest Budget statement, highlighting initiatives “aimed at supporting and uplifting Singaporeans from a wide spectrum of our society – from individuals to households and businesses — both in the immediate term and the future.”
The measures include policies aimed at reducing wage gaps and creating a stronger culture of giving, said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are among Asia’s least happy countries, according to the report.
India, the world’s most populous nation, came in at 126th out of 143 places surveyed.
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— This story has been updated to include the response of Singapore’s government.
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