Japan may have a relatively high standard of living and the longest life expectancy in the world, but it does not have the happiest people. According to a new Gallup poll of 148 countries, Japan ranks somewhere in the middle of world happiness levels. The recent poll showed just how little economic levels connect with life satisfaction.
Latin American countries with relatively low levels of economic development dominated the top 10 happiest countries. In Asia, only Thailand and the Philippines, with economic levels significantly lower than Japan's, broke into the top 10. Panama ranked No. 1 followed by, in order, Paraguay, El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
The worldwide poll found that happiness was only indirectly connected to material-centered lifestyles. Canada has the highest college graduation levels, Qatar the highest income, Germany and France relatively high income and long vacation time, but none of these countries made the top 10.