Czech Republic said to be happiest post-communist state

The Czech Republic ranks 31st on the ladder of the 2015 World Happiness Report published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, an initiative under the United Nations. The placement makes it the happiest country among the post-communist states and puts it ahead of countries such as Spain which ranks 36th and Italy which placed 50. Switzerland tops the happiness ladder, followed by Island and Denmark. The Czech Republic’s former sister state Slovakia ranks 60th. The study bases its rankings on data from the Gallup World Poll and takes into account variables such as real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, corruption levels and social freedoms.