Over the past 20 years, hundreds of millions of people in China have been pulled out of poverty by their country's staggering economic growth. Beijing today is a rising power on the global stage. That's all pretty great, and yet the country still ranks beneath war-torn Libya and perpetually melancholy Russia in the United Nations World Happiness Report. This week's Economist hazards a guess about what really makes people smile or scowl, but here's how China stacks up for joy against other countries.

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A demonstrator throws a tear gas canister back towards the police during a march calling for the resignation of Bolivia's President Rodrigo Paz, as the country's economic and fuel crisis worsens due to a shortage of U.S. dollars and falling domestic energy production, in La Paz, Bolivia May 18, 2026.
REUTERS/Claudia Morales

Two weeks of protests have paralyzed Bolivia's capital, La Paz, costing businesses $50 million a day amid the country's worst economic crisis in 40 years. Unions are calling for the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, just six months into his tenure.