The World Happiness Report ranks countries from a single Gallup World Poll question on the Cantril ladder

Background

The World Happiness Report is published by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board. Its global happiness ranking is based on a single question from the Gallup World Poll, derived from the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. The report's first edition appeared in 2012. Since then it has published over 100 chapters and worked with over 150 authors from across the world, from a wide range of academic disciplines. The United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 66/281, proclaimed 20 March as the International Day of Happiness, and the report is released around that day each year. The report states that the views it expresses do not necessarily reflect those of its partners, of the University of Oxford, or of any organisation, agency or programme of the United Nations.