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Russia Drops Further in World Happiness Index – UN

Andrei Nikerichev / Moskva News Agency

It’s not all smiles for Russia as it slips down the global happiness rankings for a third consecutive year, according to an annual UN report published on Wednesday.

The World Happiness Report ranks 156 countries by variables that support well-being, including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

Russia is now the 68th-happiest place on Earth, wedged between Pakistan and the Philippines, the report published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) said. It came in at 58th in 2018 and 49th the year before.

The country ranked third-happiest among its post-Soviet cohorts, behind Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which ranked 41st and 60th respectively.

Finland remained the world’s happiest country for the second year in a row. South Sudan ranked last.

Reuters contributed reporting to this article.

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