Finland is declared the world’s happiest country for the seventh consecutive year, according to UN’s annual World Happiness Report.
Other Nordic countries are in the Top 10 as well: Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Afghanistan is ranked the unhappiest of 143 countries.
For the first time since 2012, when the first World Happiness Report was first published, there is no US or Germany among the Top 20 happiest countries, as these two are on the 23rd and 24th spot respectively.
Costa Rica and Kuwait managed to secure 12th and 13th spot on the Top 20 list.
The report especially stresses that none of the existing superpowers are among the world’s happiest countries.
The only two countries in the Top 10 whose population exceeds 15 million are Holland and Australia. Only Canada and the UK have populations that exceed 30 million people.
Compared to the period between 2006 and 2010, the biggest decline was observed in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan, whereas the biggest improvement was observed in Serbia, Bulgaria and Latvia.
Despite this, however, Latvia is 46th, while Lithuania is 19th. Estonia is 34th on this list.
The degree of happiness is determined based on subjective criteria like people’s self-evaluation and their overall satisfaction with life, as well as more objective indexes like GDP per capital, available social aid, life expectancy, freedom and level of corruption.
Jennifer De Paola, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, told AFP that the degree of Finnish happiness is largely determined by their close connection with nature and the balance between a healthy and active life.
Additionally, when compared to US, for example, where success is often considered equal to financial success, the Finnish have a “more achievable understanding of successful life,” said the researcher.
Finland’s strong welfare state, Finland’s faith in state institutions, low levels of corruption, and free healthcare and education also play an important role.
“The Finnish society is characterized by mutual trust, freedom and a high degree of autonomy,” says De Paola.
The report also mentions that in most regions of the world, the younger generation is happier than previous generations.
At the same time, in North America, Australia and New Zealand, the degree of happiness in the under 30 age group has dropped dramatically compared to the 2006-2010 period, and older generations now feel happier there than young people.
In contrast, in Central and Eastern Europe in the same time period, the degree of happiness has increased significantly in all age groups. In Western Europe, there is no difference in the degree of happiness between age groups.
In all other regions except Europe, the gap in the degree of happiness has widened, and the authors of the report admit that this is an alarming trend.
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