FINAL CALL: Visit Colombia - The Happiest Nation in the World

Why should you attend Routes Americas? Well, hopefully the stories in The HUB this week would have sold to you the value of the only route development forum for the entire Americas region. But, additionally it could also make you a happier person, and we have the figures to prove it!

On the eve of the New Year, leading association in market research and polling, WIN/Gallup International Association revealed its Global Barometer of Hope and Happiness for the end of 2012. The poll has been collated by the company, the world’s largest independent network of opinion pollsters, annually since 1977 and this year’s findings conveyed an optimistic message that the economic gloom is subsiding worldwide and that hope for an economic recovery has risen from -2 per cent to 7 per cent; an increase of 9 percentage points from a year ago.

WIN/Gallup International Association says its findings show that overall economic hope has considerably improved. Gloom about the economy seems to be subsiding in North America. Economic hope is resurging in India and China. However, Western Europe still faces challenges with a slightly more pessimistic apprehension about the future of its economy, it says. According to the findings, notwithstanding views about the economy, a majority of the world feels happy about their life.

So, how does this link directly to this year’s Routes Americas forum in the Colombian city of Cartagena? Well, according to the WIN/Gallup International Association survey, Colombia is currently the happiest country in the whole world. The poll of 54 different countries places the South American nation in the number one position when ranked by answers to the question: “As far as you are concerned, do you personally feel happy, unhappy or neither happy nor unhappy about your life?”

The results show 77 per cent of respondents in Colombia said they were happy, against just two per cent who said they were happy. A further 20 per cent said they were neither happy, nor unhappy, while around one per cent did not answer the question. Under WIN/Gallup International Association’s ranking system this gave Colombia a net-score of 75 against a global average of 40. Its nearest rivals were Malaysia and Brazil with a score of 74 and Saudi Arabia with a score of 72. In the table below we highlight the top 20 ‘happiest’ countries across the globe, according to WIN/Gallup International Association’s findings.

Source: WIN/Gallup International Association’s Global Barometer of Hope and Happiness