World Happiness Report: Finland once again the happiest country

#NordicNews on Finland

All Nordic countries in the top 10

The annual World Happiness Report has been released. For the seventh year in a row, Finland is the happiest country in the world. Denmark and Iceland follow in second and third place, as in previous years. 

Sweden and Norway are also in the top 10. Sweden rises to 4th place (6th place in 2023, 7th place in 2022), while Norway remains in 7th place, as in the previous year (8th place in 2022). 

"What all Scandinavian or Nordic countries have in common - they have very small populations that are very down-to-earth", says Catarina Lachmund to the German Press Agency. She is a senior analyst at the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark.

The World Happiness Report analyses factors such as health and life expectancy, social support, personal freedom, gross domestic product per capita, generosity and the absence of corruption. The results are based on individuals’ own assessments of their lives. 

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, one of the authors of the World Happiness Report, says of the Finns' happiness: "It is not necessarily happiness in the sense of jumping up and down, joy in the moment. It's more a feeling of contentment. I think that's an important point."

Negative trend in German-speaking countries

In contrast to the Nordic countries, which have been able to defend or improve their positions, the German-speaking countries have been overtaken by others. Switzerland leads the German-speaking countries in 9th place (2023: 8th place, 2022: 4th place), Austria slips from 11th to 14th place and Germany drops 8 places to 24th place (2023: 16th place, 2022: 14th place).

The Benelux countries are in a better position. The Netherlands is in 6th place (2023: 5th), Luxembourg is in 8th place (2023: 9th) and Belgium is in 16th place (2023: 17th).

View the World Happiness Report 2024.

Header: © Riku Niemi / Visit Finland