Sri Lankans are the least happy, according to a World Happiness Report based on statistics compiled between 2010 and 2012 by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Sri Lanka is ranked 137 among 156 countries surveyed in the report and is below countries like Egypt where there is political turmoil.

Denmark was deemed the happiest nation, followed by Norway, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Sweden. Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland and Australia completed the top ten.

The least happy of the 156 countries to feature was Togo, with a rating of 2.936. Other African nations also dominated the bottom of the rankings, with Benin, the Central African Republic, Burundi, and Rwanda completing the bottom five. Syria came 148th, Bulgaria 144th, Yemen 142nd and Egypt 130th.

On Sri Lanka, the report notes that while the 2004 tsunami caused roughly the same physical damage and loss of life in Aceh (Indonesia) and in Jaffna (Sri Lanka), there were much better well-being outcomes in the Indonesian case.

In Aceh, the physical disaster helped to deliver a “peace dividend” while the effect was the reverse in Sri Lanka, the report said. (Colombo Gazette)