According to an annual report, Finland has been voted the world’s happiest country for the fifth year in a row, with neighbouring Nordic countries also ranking well.
Finland’s score was “substantially ahead” of other nations in the top 10 in the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 10th World Happiness Report, which was released on Friday.
Denmark remained in second position, followed by Iceland, with Sweden and Norway in seventh and eighth place, respectively, on the list.
The rankings are based on the Gallup World Poll results from 2019 to 2021 for the 146 nations on the list. The ranking considers criteria such as per capita GDP and social assistance, as well as residents’ perceptions of their freedom to make life choices and charity.
For instance, during the Covid-19 epidemic in 2021, the research noticed a global uptick in compassion.
According to John Helliwell, a professor at the University of British Columbia who assisted in the report’s editing, the three acts of kindness evaluated by the Gallup World Poll: helping strangers, volunteering, and donating, there has been a “amazing international rise.” He noted that people were doing all three about 25% more than before the outbreak.
Despite the fact that this information was gathered before Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the crisis has seen many people from neighbouring countries eager to assist Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict.
The survey also noted that Nordic nations like Finland exhibited stronger levels of personal and institutional trust, as well as being better prepared to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. In the Nordic nations, for example, Covid-19 caused 27 fatalities per 100,000 persons in 2020 and 2021, compared to 80 in the rest of Western Europe.
The analysis did, however, highlight the gap between Sweden and the rest of the Nordic nations, which elected not to adopt full social-discrimination laws at the start of the epidemic. Sweden had a death rate of 75 per 100,000, which was five times higher than the rest of the Nordic nations, which had a rate of 15 per 100,000.
The data from this year’s World Happiness Report was also used to highlight the “often-overlooked and under-appreciated” component of balance and harmony. People in the Nordic nations, in particular, were found to have greater levels of balance and harmony once again.
