U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs speaks during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy, March 15, 2016. Picture taken March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi 
 
 U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs speaks during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy, March 15, 2016. Picture taken March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi 
 
 U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs speaks during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy, March 15, 2016. Picture taken March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi 
 
 Participants are seen at the World Santa Claus Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 22, 2015. REUTERS/Sophia Juliane Lydolph/Scanpix Denmark 
 
 People wave Danish flags as they celebrate the 75th birthday of Denmark's Queen Margrethe, who is received at the City Hall, April 16, 2015. REUTERS/Mathias Bojesen/Scanpix Denmark 
 
 ROME Denmark overtook Switzerland as the world's happiest place, according to a report on Wednesday that urged nations regardless of wealth to tackle inequality and protect the environment. 
 
 The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live. 
 
 The top 10 this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland. 
 
 The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi. 
 
 The United States came in at 13, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50. 
 
 "There is a very strong message for my country, the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier," said Professor Jeffrey Sachs, head of the SDSN and special advisor to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. 
 
 While the differences between countries where people are happy and those where they are not could be scientifically measured, "we can understand why and do something about it," Sachs, one of the report's authors, told Reuters in an interview in Rome. 
 
 "The message for the United States is clear. For a society that just chases money, we are chasing the wrong things. Our social fabric is deteriorating, social trust is deteriorating, faith in government is deteriorating," he said. 
 
 Aiming to "survey the scientific underpinnings of measuring and understanding subjective well-being," the report, now in its fourth edition, ranks 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and healthy years of life expectancy. 
 
 It also rates "having someone to count on in times of trouble" and freedom from corruption in government and business. 
 
 "When countries single-mindedly pursue individual objectives, such as economic development to the neglect of social and environmental objectives, the results can be highly adverse for human wellbeing, even dangerous for survival," it said. 
 
 "Many countries in recent years have achieved economic growth at the cost of sharply rising inequality, entrenched social exclusion, and grave damage to the natural environment." 
 
 YARDSTICK FOR HAPPINESS 
 
 The first report was issued in 2012 to support a U.N. meeting on happiness and well-being. Five countries - Bhutan, Ecuador, Scotland, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela - now have appointed Ministers of Happiness charged with promoting it as a goal of public policy. 
 
 The 2016 survey showed that three countries in particular, Ireland, Iceland and Japan, were able to maintain their happiness levels despite external shocks such as the post-2007 economic crisis and the 2011 earthquake because of social support and solidarity. 
 
 Sachs pointed to Costa Rica, which came in 14th and ahead of many wealthier countries, as an example of a healthy, happy society although it is not an economic powerhouse. 
 
 (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) ||||| ROME, March 16 — The World Happiness Report 2016 Update, which ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, was released today in Rome in advance of UN World Happiness Day, March 20th. The widespread interest in the World Happiness Reports, of which this is the fourth, reflects growing global interest in using happiness and subjective well-being as primary indicators of the quality of human development. Because of this growing interest, many governments, communities and organizations are using happiness data, and the results of subjective well-being research, to enable policies that support better lives. 
 
 The 2016 Update was launched at the Bank of Italy during a three-day series of conferences on happiness and subjective well-being. A companion volume, the Word Happiness Report 2016 Special Rome Edition, was also released at the same time. 
 
 “Measuring self-reported happiness and achieving well-being should be on every nation’s agenda as they begin to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. “Indeed the Goals themselves embody the very idea that human well-being should be nurtured through a holistic approach that combines economic, social and environmental objectives. Rather than taking a narrow approach focused solely on economic growth, we should promote societies that are prosperous, just, and environmentally sustainable.” 
 
 This year, for the first time, the World Happiness Report gives a special role to the measurement and consequences of inequality in the distribution of well-being among countries and regions. In previous reports the editors have argued that happiness provides a better indicator of human welfare than do income, poverty, education, health and good government measured separately. In a parallel way, they now argue that the inequality of well-being provides a broader measure of inequality. They find that people are happier living in societies where there is less inequality of happiness. They also find that happiness inequality has increased significantly (comparing 2012-2015 to 2005-2011) in most countries, in almost all global regions, and for the population of the world as a whole. 
 
 The report, produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), is once again edited by Professor John F. Helliwell of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Professor Richard Layard, director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and SDSN. 
 
 The Update finds the top 10 countries to be the same as in the 2015 report, although their ordering has changed once again, with Denmark regaining the top spot, followed closely by Switzerland, Iceland and Norway. The top 10 are rounded out, in order, by Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. The US ranked 13th, two spots higher than last year. 
 
 “The rankings show both consistency and change,” said Helliwell. “The consistency at the top reflects mainly that life evaluations are based on life circumstances that usually evolve slowly, and that are all at high levels in the top countries. The year-to-year changes are also moderated by the averaging of data from three years of surveys in order to provide large sample sizes. However, when there have been long-lasting changes in the quality of life, they have led to large changes in life evaluation levels and rankings, as shown by the many countries with large gains or losses from 2005-2007 to 2013-2015.” 
 
 As previous reports have done, The World Happiness Report 2016 Update looks at trends in the data recording how highly people evaluate their lives on a scale running from 0 to 10. The rankings, which are based on surveys in 156 countries covering the three years 2013-2015, reveal an average score of 5.1 (out of 10). Seven 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 (Table 2.1). 
 
 Chapter 2 of the Update, by Helliwell, Haifang Huang and Shun Wang, presents the latest data and analysis of happiness around the world. This is followed by Layard’s Chapter 3 on Promoting Secular Ethics and by Sachs’ Chapter 4 on Happiness and Sustainable Development. 
 
 he companion volume of papers, prepared especially for the Rome conference, and edited by Anthony Annett, Leonardo Becchetti and Sachs, contains the following chapters: 
 
 Inside the Life Satisfaction Blackbox (Leonardo Becchetti, Luisa Corrado, and Paola Sama) 
 
 Human Flourishing, the Common Good, and Catholic Social Teaching (Anthony Annett) 
 
 The Challenges of Public Happiness: an Historical-Methodological Reconstruction (Luigino Bruni and Stefano Zemagni) 
 
 The Geography of Parenthood and Well-Being: Do Children Make Us Happy, Where, and Why? (Luca Stanca) 
 
 Multidimensional Well-Being in Contemporary Europe: an Analysis of the Use of a Self-Organizing Map Applied to SHARE Data (Mario Lucchini, Luca Crivelli and Sara della Bella) 
 
 MEDIA INQUIRIES: Kyu Lee, klee@ei.columbia.edu, 646-337-3528
– The annual report from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network on the world's happiest and least happy countries is out, and if you live in the United States, sorry: The US doesn't make it into the Top 10 (it's ranked No. 13). The survey ranks 157 countries using factors including GDP, years of healthy life expectancy, freedom from business and government corruption, and "having someone to count on in times of trouble." The happiest: Denmark Switzerland Iceland Norway Finland The least happy (in order from most to least happy): Benin Afghanistan Togo Syria Burundi The SDSN notes that the editors of the list are encouraging a focus on "happiness inequality," saying that they have found such inequality has increased, and that people are happier in societies where there is more happiness equality. Click for the top and bottom 10 in each category from Reuters.