Who’s happy, who’s not? Norway tops list, US declines and China stays the same despite economic success of past 25 years

If you want to go to your happy place, you need more than cash. A winter coat helps – and a sense of community.

A new report shows Norway is the happiest country on Earth, Americans are getting sadder, and it takes more than just money to be happy.

Norway vaulted to the top slot in the World Happiness Report despite the plummeting price of oil, a key part of its economy. Income in the US has gone up over the past decade, but happiness is declining.

The United States was 14th in the latest ranking, down from No.13 last year, and over the years Americans steadily have been rating themselves less happy.

“It’s the human things that matter. If the riches make it harder to have frequent and trustworthy relationship between people, is it worth it?” asked John Helliwell, the lead author of the report and an economist at the University of British Columbia in Canada (ranked No.7). “The material can stand in the way of the human.”

The report also finds people in China are no happier than 25 years ago. It contrasts the sharply growing per capita income in China over the past 25 years with life evaluations that fell steadily from 1990 till about 2005, recovering since then to about the 1990 levels.

“China’s soaring GDP growth over the past quarter century is viewed by many analysts as the hallmark of a successful transition from socialism to capitalism,” the report said. “But if the welfare of the ‘common man’ is taken as a criterion of success, the picture is much less favourable and more like that of European transition countries.

“From 1990 to 2000-2005, life satisfaction in China, on average, declined. Since then it has turned upward, but at present it is probably less than a quarter century ago.”