World Happiness Report ranks Finland first…again

The Nordic country has topped that symbolic but prestigious classification for six years in a row now

Today is the International Day of Happiness - that elusive intangible thing that we constantly chase all our lives. Well, at least now there’s a clearly defined destination where you have the best chance of finding it – Finland.

Yes, long winters and dark nights withstanding the World Happiness Report has concluded once again, and for the sixth time in a row, that this Nordic country has the happiest society. And in general, the ranking shows that Scandinavia is overall the happiest region on Earth, with five of the top seven places located there.

Rethinking the North

It turns out that despite the fact that so much heavy metal music hails from Scandinavia, deep inside themselves those Norsemen and Norsewomen are quite the happy-go-lucky bunch.

The study, conducted by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (linked to the UN), asked respondents to evaluate their life using the mental image of a ladder. On it, the best possible life for them is a 10 and the worst possible a 0.

These life evaluation results are then correlated with various life factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption. These factors perhaps help to explain the high ranking of developed Nordic countries in the report, as it doesn’t just rely on the subjective evaluation of personal happiness but also takes into account objectivity.

Here are the top 10 happiest countries in the world, according to World Happiness Report 2023:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand

This year is also an anniversary of sorts, since it was ten years ago that the UN Assembly decided to celebrate 20 March as International Happiness Day, putting forward the idea that happiness for its citizens should be the goal of every country and government on Earth. The first World Happiness Report was published in 2012.