Rabat – On International World Happiness day, March 20, the annual World Happiness Report 2019 showed that Morocco ranks 89th out of 156 countries.
The report ranks countries on individuals’ assessments of their lives, which researchers say align with six key variables that support well-being: Freedom, income, the absence of corruption, healthy life expectancy, social support, and generosity.
Morocco lost four places as it ranked 85th in 2018.
Morocco’s happiness primarily came from low dystopia, GDP per capita, social support, and healthy life expectancy. In contrast, perceptions of corruption, generosity, and freedom to make life choices contributed less to happiness in Morocco.
Morocco is currently one place behind its neighboring country, Algeria, which ranks 88th. Across the Maghreb, Tunisia ranks 124th, Libya 72nd, and Mauritania 122nd.
Several Arab countries rank relatively high, mainly the UAE (21st), Saudi Arabia (28th), and Qatar (29th).
In the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco ranks as the eighth happiest country; Algeria seventh; Libya sixth; Kuwait fifth; Bahrain fourth; Qatar third; Saudi Arabia second; and the UAE is the happiest country in the MENA region.
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The happiest in the world
Finland is the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the Netherlands in the top five.
Not only are the native-born residents happy with their lives in the top happiest countries, but also the immigrants there, said the report co-editor John Helliwell, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia.
Switzerland ranks in sixth place, followed by Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, and Austria.
Meanwhile, Canada ranks 9th, the US ranks 19th, France 24th, and Spain 30th.
Published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the report is “a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.” The 2019 version is the seventh annual happiness report.
In terms of fundamental rights and absence of corruption in Morocco, The World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index ranked the North African country 74th globally, falling from 67th place in its 2018 report.
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