TNA Reporter

The Latin American region has been found to be home to seven of the top 10 happiest countries in the world.

In a recent poll conducted by Gallup, it was found Paraguay, El Salvador, Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica were some of the happiest countries in the world.

The poll was conducted last year and it involved about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries. The people were asked to rate their satisfaction on a scale of zero to 10 in several of different areas of life. The questions ranged from their trust in the government system to how much enjoyment they felt in the previous day.

South Africa came in at 33rd, tied with Kenya, Peru, Jamaica, Tanzania and Taiwan.

Gallup found that 85% of adults worldwide felt treated with respect all day, 72% smiled and laughed a lot, 73% felt enjoyment a lot of the day, and 72% felt well-rested.

“These data may surprise analysts and leaders who solely focus on traditional economic indicators,” Gallup researcher Jon Clifton said in the report.

“Residents of Panama, which ranks 90th in the world with respect to GDP per capita, are among the most likely to report positive emotions. Residents of Singapore, which ranks fifth in the world in terms of GDP per capita, are the least likely to report positive emotions,” he added.