Finland retained its title as the world’s happiest country for the seventh consecutive year, according to the annual UN-sponsored World Happiness Report released on Wednesday.
Nordic nations continued to dominate the top rankings, with Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden following Finland closely.
At the bottom of the list of 143 surveyed countries, Afghanistan, grappling with a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban’s resurgence in 2020, remained in a dire situation.
For the first time in over a decade, neither the United States nor Germany made it to the top 20 happiest nations, ranking 23rd and 24th respectively. Conversely, Costa Rica and Kuwait secured spots in the top 20 at 12th and 13th places.
Notably, the report highlighted that none of the world’s largest countries featured among the happiest. The Netherlands and Australia were the only nations in the top 10 with populations exceeding 15 million, while Canada and the UK were the sole representatives in the top 20 with populations over 30 million.
The report revealed significant fluctuations in happiness levels since 2006-10, with Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Jordan experiencing the sharpest declines, while Eastern European countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria, and Latvia saw notable increases.
The happiness rankings consider individuals’ self-assessments of life satisfaction, along with factors like GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption levels.
Jennifer De Paola, a happiness researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland, attributed Finns’ contentment to their strong connection to nature, healthy work-life balance, and a distinct understanding of success that isn’t solely tied to financial prosperity.
Finland’s robust welfare system, trust in government institutions, minimal corruption, and universal healthcare and education were also cited as significant contributors to overall happiness.
The report also revealed generational happiness trends, showing that younger generations were generally happier worldwide, except in regions like North America, Australia, and New Zealand, where happiness among the youth has declined compared to older generations.
Furthermore, happiness inequality has risen across most regions, except Europe, signaling concerns about disparities in income, education, healthcare access, and social support systems globally.
