¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ jumps 5 places in UN’s World Happiness Report

Saudi families enjoying national day. The Kingdom has moved up the UN's happiness rankings (AFP file photo)

LONDON: ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ has jumped up the rankings of the world's happiest countries, according to a new UN report.

The Kingdom is now 28th out of the 156 countries included in the , which was published on Wednesday.

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ climbed five places compared to 2018 and is now the third happiest country in the Middle East and Africa, with just Israel and the UAE in front.

Finland topped the rankings for the second year in a row, with other Nordic countries taking the leading spots along with the Netherlands and Switzerland. The United States was ranked in 19th place.

South Sudan came last with Yemen and Syria the Arab countries making up the bottom 10.

The list ranks countries according to things such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

*With Reuters

The top countries:

1. Finland

2. Denmark

3. Norway 

4. Iceland

5. Netherlands

6. Switzerland

7. Sweden

8. New Zealand

9. Canada

10. Austria

...

21. UAE

...

28. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ 

Bottom countries

147. Haiti 

148. Botswana

149. Syria

150. Malawi

151. Yemen 

152. Rwanda

153. Tanzania 

154. Afghanistan 

155. Central African Republic

156. South Sudan