Taiwan replaces Singapore as the happiest country in Asia

SINGAPORE: Not only has Singapore dropped four notches on the World Happiness Report, but it is also no longer the happiest place in Asia, with Taiwan taking the city-state’s place.

Singapore took pole position in Asia in 2023 and 2024. This year, however, the Little Red Dot has slipped from 30th to 34th place. Taiwan, meanwhile, has edged past Singapore and is now ranked 27th.

The World Happiness Report measures global well-being and looks into ways to improve it, with data taken from more than 140 countries. It is based on a single question that asks more than 100,000 people all across the globe to evaluate the quality of their lives on a 0–10 scale. For the past seven years, Finland has ranked first and has emerged on top again, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg, and Mexico round out this year’s top ten.

On the other end of the scale are Zimbabwe (143rd), Malawi (144th), Lebanon (145th), Sierra Leone (146th) and Afghanistan (147th).

Interestingly, the United States has fallen to its lowest-ever position, 24th, since the report was first published in 2012. Similarly, the United Kingdom slipped to its lowest place (24th) since 2017.

The report was published on March 20 (Thursday), which also happens to be the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness. It takes a look into the impact of caring and sharing on the happiness people feel. It says that believing in others’ kindness is much more closely connected to happiness than previously thought.

Evidence across the globe concerning the perceived and actual return of lost wallets shows that people have been too pessimistic about kindness in their communities compared to reality, with the actual rate of wallet return approximately twice as high as people expect.

Furthermore, the belief that other people actually want to return one’s lost wallet is also a strong predictor of population happiness. Nordic nations, which top the rankings, are also among the top places for the expected and actual return of lost wallets.

“Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others. Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness,” said Lara B. Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University and an editor of the World Happiness Report.

/TISG

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