Australia officially the happiest country in the world
Australia is the world's happiest nation, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Australia led Norway and the USA in a survey of the 36 OECD member countries, the Paris-based group's Better Life Index showed,.
It is the second year in a row the index shows Australia ranked near or at the top of almost every one of the 11 overall measures, including income, jobs, housing, health, working hours, air pollution, homicide rates and work-life balance.
Australians live longer than people elsewhere (an average life span of 82 compared with the OECD average of 80); more than 72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Australia have a paid job, above the OECD average of 66%; Australian children do better on international standardised tests than those in most other nations; and 92% of Australians are happy with the quality of the water they drink.
Australia's unemployment rate was 4.9% in April, compared with 10.9% in Europe and over 8% in the USA.
The 2009 global financial crisis was seen as having a big impact on the findings.
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
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