Finland is officially the happiest country in the world

By Sanj Atwal
Published
split image of Finland flag and people on sled

For the sixth year in a row, Finland is officially the world’s happiest country.

The Nordic nation topped the list of 137 countries featured in the 2023 World Happiness Report, which was based largely on three-year average figures taken from 2020 to 2022. 

The report looked at factors such as quality of life, social support, and personal liberty.

Its primary source of data was the Gallup World Poll, which asks respondents to evaluate their life by answering a series of questions, using a scale from zero to 10. Around 1,000 responses are gathered each year for each country.

Using this data, the World Happiness Report allocated each nation a rating between zero and 10, with zero being the worst and 10 being the best.

Finland's final score was 7.804, putting its populace's satisfaction level just ahead of Denmark (7.586) and Iceland (7.530).

The top 10 were as follows:

  1. Finland (7.804)
  2. Denmark (7.586)
  3. Iceland (7.530)
  4. Israel (7.473)
  5. Netherlands (7.403)
  6. Sweden (7.395)
  7. Norway (7.315)
  8. Switzerland (7.240)
  9. Luxembourg (7.228)
  10. New Zealand (7.123)

Afghanistan (1.859) and Lebanon (2.392) were the two unhappiest countries in the survey, with respondents’ average life evaluations over five points lower than countries in the top 10.

Aleksanterinkatu, a street in the commercial centre of Helsinki

Finland and its Nordic neighbours Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway all scored highly on the factors the report uses to explain its findings: healthy life expectancy, low corruption, social support, community generosity, GDP per capita, and personal freedom.

Finland has set itself apart from other countries with a number of positive attributes, such as an efficient, publicly funded healthcare system; lower levels of income inequality than other first world countries; and a reliable and affordable public transport system.

USA ranked 15th overall with a score of 6.894, while the UK placed 19th with a score of 6.796.

Lithuania was a new entrant to the top 20 this year with a score of 6.763, ousting France, who ranked 21st with a score of 6.661. The Baltic country has climbed 30 places since 2017.

Notable nations at the lower end of the scale were Nigeria (4.981) in 95th place and India (4.036) ranked 126th.

Overall, despite significant global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and war, life evaluations have continued to be “remarkably resilient,” according to the report, with averages from 2020-2022 equally as high as those in previous years.

Header image credit: Aboodi Vesakaran (left) and Ethan Hu (right) on Unsplash

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