Finland has been dubbed the world’s happiest nation for the sixth consecutive year in the annual World Happiness Report, released on Monday.
The list is largely based on Gallup World Poll evaluations on matters such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption, New York Post reports.
“Citizens of Finland’s strong feelings of communal support and mutual trust” were factors in helping the country navigate the Covid-19 pandemic and again grab the top spot, authors of the study wrote.
“Additionally, Finlanders felt strongly that they were free to make their own choices, and showed minimal suspicion of government corruption. Both of these factors are strong contributors to overall happiness,” the report continued.
Denmark, Iceland, Israel and the Netherlands rounded out the top five.
On the list, New Zealand ranked 10th and Australia came in 12th.
“The Nordic countries merit special attention in light of their generally high levels of both personal and institutional trust,” the authors of the study wrote.
The US, meanwhile, came in at number 15 on the list, notably ahead of Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Costa Rica – and four spots ahead of where it ranked in 2021.
Of the 137 countries ranked, Afghanistan was considered the least happy nation, with Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo also close to the bottom of the list.
Although some say money can’t buy happiness, the lack of it can be a big factor. Finland’s poverty rate was 12 per cent, compared to 18 per cent in the US, according to the report. The poverty rate in Afghanistan was 55 per cent.
War-torn Ukraine came in at 108th on the list “despite the magnitude of suffering and damage” the country experienced in the past year, the study said.
“[Ukraine’s] life evaluations in September 2022 remained higher than in the aftermath of the 2014 annexation, supported now by a stronger sense of common purpose, benevolence, and trust in Ukrainian leadership,” it said.
Even as the world grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic that killed seven million people, many enjoyed healthy levels of “trust, benevolence, and social connections,” the study found.
“Average happiness and our country rankings, for emotions as well as life evaluations, have been remarkably stable during the three Covid-19 years,” study author John Helliwell said in a statement.
“Even during these difficult years, positive emotions have remained twice as prevalent as negative ones, and feelings of positive social support twice as strong as those of loneliness.”
The scores were based on answers from residents of the countries ranked.
