Ranking of the happiest countries in Latin America 2021
Two Central American nations lead the ranking of the happiest countries in Latin America, according to the latest world ranking of well-being called the World Happiness Report 2021. In the region, Costa Rica stands out as the happiest in 16th place globally, followed by Guatemala, Uruguay and Brazil, in a list of 149 nations that takes into account data from the last three years. The authors of the study, sponsored by the United Nations and published since 2012, use polls from the Gallup company that ask respondents about their perception of happiness and cross these data with GDP figures, data on individual freedom, corruption and others to reach a result. Comparing this list with others prior to the pandemic, the authors of the study find that there has been "a significantly higher frequency of negative emotions" in a third of countries. But in 22 countries, there is no perceived decline in well-being or in the perception that people have of their own lives, summarizes, sur...