For the eighth consecutive year, the World Happiness Report has named Finland the happiest country in the world. The annual report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an independent editorial board, ranks countries based on a three-year average of the populations’ assessment of their quality of life.
Similar to previous years, Nordic countries dominated the top 10, with Denmark again ranking second. Costa Rica and Mexico both entered the top 10 for the first time — at 6th and 10th place respectively — while the United States slipped one more spot, landing at 24th.
This marks the lowest ranking for the U.S. since the first report was published in 2012. At that time, it ranked 11th; it fell out of the top 20 for the first time last year.
This year’s top 10 happiest countries are:
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Costa Rica
- Norway
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
Strong support system
Dr. Felix Cheung, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and co-author of the chapter that looks at countries’ rankings, said it’s notable that the countries in the top 10 all have strong social structures in place. That contributes to people feeling secure and happy.
“Finland is well known for having a really strong welfare system, really strong education system, very low corruption, and strong healthcare,” he said. “All of these are necessary to produce national happiness.”
Countries that report greater happiness also have strong social connections. This year’s report focused on different themes of connection, including how such things as sharing meals, household size, acts of benevolence, and trusting others affect wellbeing.
“I think that sense of trust connections is incredibly helpful,” Felix says. “At the same time, I think national happiness cannot be cultivated simply through individuals. We also must think about our political institution, our social structures, and so forth.”
Reconnecting in the U.S.
The report found that the decline in happiness and social trust in Europe and the U.S. have led to the rise of political polarization. Felix said the widespread political division could be preventing people from making crucial social connections.
“So based on this year’s report, maybe perhaps we can think about how can we reverse some of this?” he suggested. He pointed to a global experiment in which researchers looked at the frequency of lost wallets being returned. It found that the actual rates of a lost wallet being returned was about twice as high as people anticipated. And the study further found a correlation between a country’s happiness and its population’s belief that a lost wallet would be returned.
Report co-author John F. Helliwell, an economist at the University of British Columbia and founding editor of the World Happiness Report, wrote that the lost wallet research is compelling because it confirms that people are much happier when they live in a place where they believe other people care about them. Felix said remembering that those around us are probably more helpful than we think they are could help ease some of the current political division — and help make us happier.
“I think if there’s anything that we can learn from this year’s World Happiness Report, [it is] we should be able to give more credit to other people. They’re actually really kind and helpful,” Felix said.
“And by closing this gap between how we think people are to the reality that people are actually really helpful, well, maybe that’s one way to get us closer to a happier society.”
Related posts:
World Happiness Report Names Norway Happiest Country in 2017
Finland Tops Global Happiness Rankings for 7th Consecutive Year
Finland Makes History With Third Consecutive Happiness Title
Finland Remains the Happiest Place on Earth
Older Americans Are Getting Happier, but Young People’s Well-being is Declining
