news.yahoo.com › happiest-country-world-2023
The results of the World Happiness Report are published annually on 20 March to mark ‘International Day of Happiness’.
YLE NEWS
Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row.
The World Happiness Report — compiled by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative of the United Nations — is published annually on 20 March to mark ‘International Day of Happiness’.
The study asks respondents to evaluate their life using the mental image of a ladder, with the best possible life for them as a 10 and worst possible as 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.
Once again, all of the Nordic nations performed well in the 2023 report, making up five of the top seven places.
World Happiness Report 2022 rankings
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand
The 2023 report also saw Lithuania entering the top 20 for the first time, with the Baltic country having risen more than 30 places since 2017.
The world’s most unhappy countries include Lebanon, which has been scarred by conflict and corruption, and Afghanistan, a war-ravaged country now ruled by the Taliban extremists.
The World Happiness Report has also received criticism. The US-based non-profit news organisation The Intercept reported in 2021(siirryt toiseen palveluun) that the United Arab Emirates — which has itself been criticised for violating human rights — funded the report with a payment of at least 3 million dollars.
Happiness endures despite years of adversity
The authors of this year’s happiness report noted the resilience of humanity despite years of crisis — including the Covid pandemic as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy and cost of living crises.
“This year’s report features many interesting insights but one that I find particularly interesting and heartening has to do with pro-sociality,” psychology professor and report author Laura Aknin explained. “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. Acts of kindness have been shown to both lead to and stem from greater happiness.”
The report also revealed that while Russia’s invasion has had a negative impact on the well-being of the Ukrainian people, the level is surprisingly lower than after the Kremlin’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. At the same time, mutual trust and unity among Ukrainians has reached record high levels.
“This is thanks in part to the extraordinary rise in fellow feeling across Ukraine as picked up in data on helping strangers and donations – the Russian invasion has forged Ukraine into a nation” according to Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, a Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University.
Finland named happiest country in the world for sixth year in a row
Mon, March 20, 2023 at 10:33 AM EDT
Want to live in the happiest country in the world? It might be time to move to Finland.
The Scandinavian nation has just been named the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report for the sixth year in a row, beating other countries such as Denmark, Iceland, and Israel to nab the top spot.
In fact, it seems as though there might be something in the water for the Scandi nations, as both Norway and Sweden join Finland in the top 10.
Other countries included in the top 10 are the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
Lithuania is the only new country to be listed in the top 20, moving up more than 30 places since 2017.
War-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon are the two unhappiest countries due to lower than average life evaluations.
The happiest countries in the world for 2023
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
- New Zealand
- Austria
- Australia
- Canada
- Ireland
- US
- Germany
- Belgium
- Czechia
- UK
- Lithuania
The UK comes in at 19 on the list, lower than the US placed at 15, Germany at 16, Ireland at 14, and Australia at 12.
France is just below the UK in terms of happiness, however, as it stands at number 21.
The happiness of the countries was measured using several factors, including: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and low corruption.
“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.
“Changes in rankings that have taken place have been continuations of longer-term trends, such as the increases seen in the rankings of the three Baltic countries. 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.”
Fellow study author Lara Aknin noted that levels of everyday kindness remained above pre-pandemic levels.
The unhappiest countries in the world for 2023
- Afghanistan
- Lebanon
- Sierra Leone
- Zimbabwe
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Botswana
- Malawi
- Comoros
- Tanzania
- Zambia
- Madagascar
- India
- Liberia
- Ethiopia
- Jordan
- Togo
- Egypt
- Mali
- Gambia
- Bangladesh
“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,” she added. “Acts of kindness have been shown to both lead to and stem from greater happiness.”
One country whose happiness has taken a hit in the past year is Ukraine which, at place 92 on the list, continues to be invaded by Russia.
“The devastating impact of the war is evident to all, and so we also find that well-being in Ukraine has taken a real hit,” study author Jan-Emmanuel De Neve said. “But what is surprising, however, is that well-being in Ukraine fell by less than it did in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, and this is thanks in part to the extraordinary rise in fellow feeling across Ukraine as picked up in data on helping strangers and donations – the Russian invasion has forged Ukraine into a nation.”