On the day of International Day of Happiness (20 March), the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network released its tenth edition of the ‘World Happiness Report’ that ranks countries on happiness.
The report found that global happiness has not taken a hit in the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Life evaluations from 2020 to 2022 have been “remarkably resilient,” the report said, with global averages basically in line with the three years preceding the pandemic.
For the sixth time in a row, Finland has been called the happiest country in the world.
One major reason why Finland is such a happy place to live is the free, relaxed way of life.
According to the report, Denmark came in the second position — as it did last year too — followed by Iceland at three.
Israel climbed the ranks to become the fourth happiest country, bumping Switzerland off the position — it ranks eight this year.
The Netherlands once again was ranked five on the list with Sweden behind it.
Canada rose two position to 13 while the United States was also up one spot from last year — ranking 15 on the list. Belgium is up two spots to number 17.
Explaining why the Nordic countries score so well on the report, the authors said, “The Nordic countries merit special attention in light of their generally high levels of both personal and institutional trust."
They also had COVID-19 death rates only one-third as high as elsewhere in Western Europe during 2020 and 2021—27 per 100,000 in the Nordic countries compared to 80 in the rest of Western Europe.”
India may be the fastest growing economy, but it isn’t too happy. As per the World Happiness Report, the country ranked a low 125 of 136 countries.
For a second year, we see that various forms of everyday kindness, such as helping a stranger, donating to charity and volunteering, are above pre-pandemic levels.