The results are according to the United Nations General Assembly’s second World Happiness Report, which rated six areas like GDP per capita; social support; healthy life expectancy at birth; freedom to make life choices; generosity; and perceptions of corruption to calculate overall happiness in 156 countries.

Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, praised the achievement for Emiratis which he described as an “approach followed by the founding fathers of the UAE, a vision in all government sectors, levels and institutions as well as a manner of work that governs all of our policies and decisions”, he said in a statement according to Emirates News Agency.

Meanwhile, the UN report shows that Greece ranked 70th out of 156 countries, with a happiness index of 5.4, making it the least happy country in Europe.

Of all the European countries, Greece seems to have suffered the most from the Eurozone crisis, since it marked the greatest drop in the happiness index 29010-12 period, To Vima reports.

On the other hand, the countries in the north of Europe are at the top of the happiness index, with Denmark 1st, followed by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland and Australia rounded out the top 10.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the wake of recent political upheaval Egypt had the greatest fall in Happiness levels.

Oman was ranked 23 happiest country, Qatar 27, Kuwait 32, Saudi 33 and Bahrain 79.

Leading experts in several fields – economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, and more – describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations.

The Report is edited by Professor John F. Helliwell, of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Lord Richard Layard, Director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Director of the SDSN, and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General.

Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal was quoted in the newspaper Politiken as saying that such a step would “clearly show consumers that the products are produced under conditions that not only the Danish government, but also European governments, do not approve of.”

The decision is to support the notion of a “two-state solution,” Sovndal added.

The move follows reports of a recent decision by the minister for trade and industry, Rob Devies, in South Africa announced this month that Israel would henceforth be obliged to label any products it makes on Palestinian land as “Made in Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

South Africa recognizes the State of Israel only within the borders demarcated by the UN in 1948.

Minister Rob Davies said he would “require traders in SA not to incorrectly label products that originate from occupied Palestinian territory as products of Israel” adding, “Consumers in SA should not be misled into believing products originating from occupied territories are products originating from Israel. The burden of proving where the products originate will lie with the traders,”
 IMEMC reported.

This has outraged Israeli officials as Israeli Foreign Minister labeled the decision as an “essentially racist decision”. The Israeli Foreign Ministry was said to be seeking clarification both here and in South Africa concerning the decision with some calls to downgrade South Africa’s diplomatic status, according to Haaretz.

Both states, however, noted the moves do not intend to support a boycott of Israeli goods but only those produced in territories occupied after 1967, when Israeli troops occupied additional land in Palestine, Egypt and Syria.