The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) published their rankings for World Happiness Report (WHR) on March 18 where the Philippines made it to the 60th spot out of 146 countries.

Not only that, the Philippines is also hailed as the second happiest country in Southeast Asia, trailing Singapore, the 10th edition of WHR published this year.

In 2021, the country was ranked 61st, which means it had a one-spot advance victory this year. In 2020, before the peak of COVID-19, the Philippines ranked 52nd.

The six variables they used to rank such countries in their list were GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption.

Filipino respondents provided an average life evaluation of 5.904 from 2019 to 2021, which is relatively better than last year’s average score of 5.880 from 2018 to 2020 but lower than the pre-pandemic 6.006 from 2017 to 2019.

As stated in the report, it says that life evaluations provide the most informative measure for international comparisons because they capture the quality of life in a more complete and stable way than emotional reports based on daily experiences.

Finland bags the top spot for the fifth year in a row with a score of 7.821. Singapore ranks first, followed by the Philippines, among Southeast Asian nations.

“Positive emotions have generally been twice as prevalent as negative ones. That gap has been narrowing over the past ten years, with enjoyment and laughter on a negative trend in most regions and worry and sadness on rising trends,” said the report.

COVID-19 has had an impact on unemployment rates and health, as evidenced by individual-level data for emotions and life evaluations, as evidenced by individual-level data for emotions and life evaluations.

It is well known that Filipinos are hospitable, nice, and one of the world’s most cheerful nationalities, so it is not surprising that the Philippines ranked 60th this year.

Source: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/happiness-benevolence-and-trust-during-covid-19-and-beyond/