The lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and inflation have made 2022 a year of global crises. But according to World Happiness Report In 2023, the desire to be happy “Remarkably resistant“.
This year, the report measures the same average global satisfaction as in pre-pandemic years. He puts Finland is in the lead for the sixth year in a rowwith a significantly higher happiness score than all other countries.
The report is based on research conducted in more than 150 countries based on six key variables:
- Income (Gross Domestic Product per Capita)
- Social support
- Healthy life expectancy
- Freedom to make personal life choices
- Generosity
- Absence of corruption
A common question for measuring people’s well-being is: “Overall, how satisfied are you with your life today?“. To answer this, people use a scale from 0 to 10 (0 = completely dissatisfied, 10 = completely satisfied).
Annual report results are always based on average life ratings over the last three years.
Happiness inequality: Which countries are the most unhappy?
There is a significant gap between the happiest and unhappiest countries on the list, with countries at the top of the list grouped more closely together than those at the bottom.
For example, for the top 10 countries, the average difference in national scores is less than 0.7 points. In the last ten countries, on the other hand, the difference between scores is 2.1 points.
Afghanistan and Lebanon Two less happy countries. In both of these states, the average rating of life is five points lower (on a scale of 0 to 10) than the top ten happiest countries.
Which will be the happiest countries in 2023?
such as FinlandIt topped the list for the sixth consecutive year, with most of the other top 10 countries unchanged.
One of the strongest risers in the rankings is IsraelIt has gained five places from last year and is in fourth place.
Outside the top 10, Austria and Australia are ranked 11th and 12th respectivelyCanada then dropped two spots to 13th, while never ranking as poorly as last year (11th).
Ireland is 14th, followed by the US (15th), Germany (16th), Belgium (17th), Czech Republic (18th), UK (19th) and Lithuania (20th).
Year after year, the happiest countries remain the same: 19 of this year’s top 20 countries made last year’s list. But there is one exception, the LithuaniaIt has risen steadily over the past six years, rising from 52nd in 2017 to 20th this year.
France dropped from the top 20 to 21st place In this year’s report.
10 Happiest Countries:
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Luxembourg
- New Zealand
Key findings from this year’s report
“This year’s report contains a lot of interesting information“, according to Laura Agnin, co-author of the report,”But one of them, which I find particularly inspiring, is about sociability“.
The report has already recorded a wave of global goodwill in 2020 and 2021 following the pandemic. According to 2022 data, kindness, generosity and altruism towards others are 25% higher than before the pandemic.
This sense of benevolence is also observed in countries like Ukraine and Russia. In 2020 and 2021, both these countries saw an overall increase in donations. However, in 2022, benevolence rose sharply in Ukraine, but decreased in Russia.
Despite the devastating impact of the war in Ukraine, happiness ratings remained higher than when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the report said, explaining thatBy a strong sense of common purpose, compassion and trust in the Ukrainian leadership“.
“The Russian invasion turned Ukraine into a country“, notes Jean-Emmanuel de Neve, one of the authors of the report.
How to measure happiness?
Every year more information is available on how to measure happiness, such as “National happiness may now become the operational objective of governments“, says the report, a publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
“The happiness movement argues that well-being is not a ‘soft’ or ‘fuzzy’ idea, but focuses on fundamental areas: material conditions, mental and physical wealth, personal virtues and civilization.said Jeffrey Sachs, Associate Director of the Wellness Program London School of Economics and co-author of the report.
“We must turn this wisdom into practical results to achieve greater peace, prosperity, hope, civilization_–_yes, happiness____ in our societies.“.
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”
