Given that Finland plans to share its teachings on happiness for free this summer, we’re hardly shocked that the country has once again been named as the happiest country in the word.
Yep, for the seventh year in a row, the Nordic nation has topped the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, which looks at six major factors that impact a population’s contentment across 140 countries. They are: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom, social support, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
So, why is Finland so happy? Miika Mäkitalo, proud Finn and CEO of HappyOrNot said: ‘There are a lot of great things about living and working in Finland, from the beautiful nature to the generous 4-5 weeks of annual holiday we receive.’
‘Though it can be extremely cold and dark here for a lot of the year, the Finnish concept of ‘sisu’ (meaning ‘resilience’ or ‘grit’) and our love of sauna, are just some of the ways we keep our spirits high,’ he continued. We went and tried some Finnish happiness techniques out ourselves, which you can read about right here.
However, 2024 was the first year that the report factored age categories into its analysis. Finland is the happiest country overall, but Lithuania has the most content under 30-year-olds, whereas the winner for over-60s is Denmark.
This year is also the first time that the US has dropped out of the top 20, as has Germany. Nordic countries have an impressive presence near the top of the ranks, but Europe does well overall, claiming 14 of the top 20 spaces. Take a look below.
The 20 happiest countries in the world
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Costa Rica
- Kuwait
- Austria
- Canada
- Belgium
- Ireland
- Czechia
- Lithuania
- United Kingdom
A recent investigation into the Mental State of the World had pretty different results – you can take a look at those here.
Did you see that these are the surprising European destinations on the rise in 2024?
Plus: This company is hiring a ‘luxury room service reviewer’ to stay in five-star hotels.
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