The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey and reviews the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.

They reflect a new worldwide demand for more attention to happiness as a criteria for government policy.

Switzerland was the country with the highest levels of happiness, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada.

In Asia, Singapore was in 24th place, with Malaysia (61st), Hong Kong (72nd), Indonesia (74th), Vietnam (75th) and Myanmar (129th) of the 158 surveyed countries. The least happy country was Togo.

As in previous reports, The World Happiness Report 2015 reveals trends in the data judging just how happy countries really are. On a scale running from 0 to 10, people in over 150 countries, surveyed by Gallup over the period 2012-15, reveal an average score of 5.1 (out of 10).

Six key variables explain three-quarters of the variation in annual national average scores over time and among countries: real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and generosity.

This year for the first time ever, the report breaks down the data by gender, age, and region. It finds striking differences, some much larger than have previously been found.

Source: http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR15.pdf 

The first report was published in 2012, the second in 2013, and the third on April 23, 2015. Leading experts across fields â€" economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, health, public policy and more â€" describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations. 

The report is published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).  It is edited by Professor John F. Helliwell, of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Lord Richard Layard, Director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Director of the SDSN, and Special Advisor to UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon.