世界上最幸福的地方：斯堪的纳维亚

爱思英语编者按：斯堪的纳维亚国家在幸福国家的排行上名列前茅，美国排在第17位，排在它之前的有墨西哥、巴拿马和阿联酋。

The happiest people in the world may live in Scandinavia, a new study suggests.
一项最新研究表明，世界上最幸福的人也许是斯堪的纳维亚的居民们。

That's according to the United Nations General Assembly's second World Happiness Report, which ranks countries based on several measures of well-being and analyzes the factors that contribute to that well-being.
这个结论来自联合国大会的第二份幸福报告。该报告根据多种衡量幸福的标准，并分析了和幸福相关的各种因素，将世界各国进行了排名。

Denmark was the happiest country, followed by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada.
丹麦是世界上最幸福的国家，接下来依次是挪威、瑞士、 荷兰、瑞典和加拿大。

Happiness counts
幸福十分重要

For years, the tiny Himalayan country of Bhutan has tried to measure "gross national happiness" to counter measures such as gross domestic product (GDP), arguing that such simple metrics don't capture what is really meaningful to people.
多年来，喜马拉雅山脉地区的小国不丹一直试图测量“国内幸福总值”来对抗诸如国内生产总值（GDP）这样的指数。他们认为GDP这样简单的指标对人民来说并没有真正的意义。

Last year's study showed that whereas rich people are happier on average than poor people, increasing GDP in a country doesn't necessarily boost well-being. For instance, GDP tripled in the United States since the 1960s, yet well-being has stagnated.
去年的研究表明，虽然富人的幸福感平均来说要高于穷人，但一个国家GDP的增长并不意味着幸福感的增强。比如美国的GDP自上世纪60年代以来增长了3倍，而幸福感却停滞不前。

To assess world happiness in the new study, the researchers analyzed happiness data starting from 2005. Most of the data came from the Gallup World Poll, which surveyed more than 150 countries around the world.
在这项新研究中，为了评价世界的幸福感，研究人员分析了从2005年以来的幸福数据。大部分数据来自盖洛普公司的民意调查，该调查涉及了全世界150多个国家。

Worldwide trends
世界趋势

Scandinavian countries topped the list of happiest countries, with the United States ranking 17th,bested by Mexico, Panama and the United Arab Emirates.
斯堪的纳维亚国家在幸福国家的排行上名列前茅，美国排在第17位，排在它之前的有墨西哥、巴拿马和阿联酋。

On average, people in more than 150 countries rate their happiness as a 5.1 on a scale of 0 to 10. But happiness hasn't stayed constant over time: 61 countries saw their happiness improve over the years, while 41 countries have become unhappier. Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are becoming happier overall, while industrial nations report less well-being.
150多个国家的国民的平均幸福感分数是5.1，满分是10分。但幸福感并不是持久不变的：61个国家的人认为他们的幸福感随着时间在增强，而41个国家的人则认为没有过去幸福了。撒哈拉以南非洲以及拉丁美洲的居民总体来说变得更加幸福，而工业国家居民的幸福感则普遍下降。

More than three-quarters of the differences in happiness scores were attributable to six key metrics: real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption and generosity.
在幸福感分数钟超过3/4的差异来自以下6个关键指标：真正的人均GDP、健康寿命、可以依靠的人、做出人生选择的自由、廉洁度和宽容度。

The new data could help public policy-makers tweak their policies to impact those factors, such as cracking down on corruption, to boost people's happiness.
这些新数据也许可以帮助国家公共政策的制定者针对这些要素改变他们的政策，比如打击腐败，以此来增强人民的幸福感。

In adddition, mental health problems such as clinical depression and anxiety have a huge impact on people's well-being. Yet mental health issues are often ignored b policy-makers, the study found.
此外，精神健康问题，比如临床抑郁症和焦虑，都会对人们的幸福感有很大影响。

"There is now a rising worldwide demand that policy be more closely aligned with what really matters to people as they themselves characterize their well-being," said study co-author Jeffery Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, in a statement. "More and more world leaders are talking about the importance of well-being as a guide for their nations and the world. The World Happiness Report 2013 offers rich evidence that the systematic measurement and analysis of happiness can teach us a lot about ways to improve the world's well-being and sustainable development."
“现在世界范围内有一种日渐增长的需求，就是政策要和那些对人民真正重要的事情紧密相关，因为人民自己就是幸福感最好的体现，”这篇调查报告的合作作者、来自哥伦比亚大学地球研究所的Jeffery Sachs 在一份声明中说。“越来越多的世界领导人在谈论幸福作为他们国家乃至全世界一个引导的重要性。2013年世界幸福报告提供了丰富的证据，关于幸福的系统性的度量与分析可以教给我们关于如何促进世界幸福和可持续发展的很多办法。”

Happy citizens also make for better countries: The report found that happiness makes fore people who live longer, more productive lives, have higher earnings and are better citizens.
幸福的国民还会让国家变得更好：这份报告发现，幸福会让人民的寿命更长，生命的质量更高，收入更高。他们会成为更好的国民。