NEW YORK - A bit of cold isn’t keeping Norway from basking in the warmth of being the world’s happiest country, a UN report out Monday found. And Norway surged from 4th place in last year’s assessment all the way to the top spot, even though oil prices are down, the World Happiness Report 2017 said.

The top four also included Nordic neighbors neighbors Denmark and Iceland as well as Switzerland.

“All of the top four countries rank highly on all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance,” the summary explained.

Rounding out the top ten were Finland (5th), the Netherlands (6), Canada (7), New Zealand (8), and Australia and Sweden tied for 9th.

The entire top ten were wealthier developed nations. Yet money is not the only ingredient in the recipe for happiness, the report said. In fact, among the wealthier countries the differences in happiness levels had a lot to do with “differences in mental health, physical health and personal relationships: the biggest single source of misery is mental illness,” the report said. “Income differences matter more in poorer countries, but even their mental illness is a major source of misery,” it added. Another major country, China, has made major economic strides in recent years. But its people are not happier than 25 years ago, it found.

The United States meanwhile slipped to the number 14 spot due to less social support and greater corruption; those very factors play into why Nordic countries fare better on this scale of smiles.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg welcomed the report as “a nice validation on a Monday morning.

“For many years, Norway has been behind Denmark in this ranking.

“I’ve made a point of it in many dinner speeches in the Nordics. Now I must find something new!,” she said in a message on Facebook in Norwegian.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has jumped up 12 places from last year in the global happiness rankings, indicating a trend towards greater economic and social well-being. According to the World Happiness Report 2017, released on Monday, Pakistan, with a score of 5.269, is ranked at 80 out of the 155 countries included in the report. The 2016 report had ranked Pakistan at 92, with a score of 5.132.

Pakistan is now the happiest nation in South Asia, 32 positions ahead of India, and also doing better than all its immediate neighbors, except China. Pakistan also ranks ahead of several countries that are much more technologically advanced, including Greece and South Africa.

 

The top ten happiest nations

Norway

Denmark

Iceland

Switzerland

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

New Zealand

Australia

Sweden