Finland Ranked World’s Happiest Country For Fifth Year In A Row

If you are looking for the happiest country to visit this summer, Finland has come out tops for five years running. According to the newly released World Happiness Report, the Finns have plenty to smile about. In fact, when it comes to healthy life expectancy, GDP per capita, honesty, social support in the bad times and high social trust, they come out number one.

Finland named world’s happiest country… again

While the world is still in an ongoing pandemic, global levels of stress and worry have dipped a little, but are still higher than before COVID-19. However, the annual UN-sponsored index places Finland at number one.

When it comes to wellbeing, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia have also done well. However, the biggest falls in the World Happiness Table, released on Friday, come from Afghanistan, Lebanon and Venezuela. Reportedly, Lebanon is going through an economic meltdown right now. This caused the country to drop to second from last on the index of 146 countries, just below Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan, which was at the bottom of the table last year, is experiencing an ongoing humanitarian crisis. This came as the US pulled out its troops last August, and the Taliban returned to power.

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, a co-author of the report, said the index presents a “stark reminder” of the material and immaterial damage that war does to its many victims.

How is the report compiled?

Now in its 10th year, the World Happiness Report is based on people’s own assessment of their happiness. The information is combined with economic and social data to calculate a happiness score on a scale of zero to 10.

Besides a personal sense of wellbeing, the happiness score, based on Gallup polls, takes account of GDP, personal freedom, social support and levels of corruption.

Nordic countries are certainly doing well, as Denmark comes second to the Finns, followed by Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the US climbed three places to 16th happiest country, one step ahead of the UK. France climbed up to 20th place, its highest ranking so far.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

As two years of the global pandemic starts to ease, the authors also used data from social media. They used this data to compare people’s emotions both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In 18 countries, they found “strong increases in anxiety and sadness.” However, there was apparently a fall in feelings of anger.

‘World leaders should take heed’

Report co-author Jeffrey Sachs said the lesson of the World Happiness Report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another and honesty in government are crucial for wellbeing. Sachs wrote, “World leaders should take heed.”

The Guardian quotes Helsinki business owner Jukka Viitasaari as saying he isn’t surprised that Finns say they are happy. He said many things are undeniably good in Finland – beautiful nature, a well-governed country and many things are in order.

People in Finland are surprised

Finland is well-known for its excellent public services, low levels of crime and inequality, and high levels of trust in authority. However, the report did, apparently, raise some eyebrows when Finland came first in 2018. Many of the Nordic country’s people tend to describe themselves as taciturn and prone to melancholy.

Meanwhile, according to Viitasaari, it took someone from outside to tell them they had it good compared to other places. However, he did add that after five years at number one, they are getting used to it.