Finland named happiest country in the world for sixth year in a row
Watch: Finland is the happiest place in the world, again
Want to live in the happiest country in the world? It might be time to move to Finland.
The Scandinavian nation has just been named the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report for the sixth year in a row, beating other countries such as Denmark, Iceland, and Israel to nab the top spot.
In fact, it seems as though there might be something in the water for the Scandi nations, as both Norway and Sweden join Finland in the top 10.
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Other countries included in the top 10 are the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
Lithuania is the only new country to be listed in the top 20, moving up more than 30 places since 2017.
War-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon are the two unhappiest countries due to lower than average life evaluations.
The happiest countries in the world for 2023
Finland
Denmark
Iceland
Israel
Netherlands
Sweden
Norway
Switzerland
Luxembourg
New Zealand
Austria
Australia
Canada
Ireland
US
Germany
Belgium
Czechia
UK
Lithuania
The UK comes in at 19 on the list, lower than the US placed at 15, Germany at 16, Ireland at 14, and Australia at 12.
France is just below the UK in terms of happiness, however, as it stands at number 21.
The happiness of the countries was measured using several factors, including: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and low corruption.
“Average happiness and our country rankings, for emotions as well as life evaluations, have been remarkably stable during the three COVID-19 years,” study author John Helliwell said.
“Changes in rankings that have taken place have been continuations of longer-term trends, such as the increases seen in the rankings of the three Baltic countries. Even during these difficult years, positive emotions have remained twice as prevalent as negative ones, and feelings of positive social support twice as strong as those of loneliness.”
Read more: How to be happy: The numbers that add up to a better life
Fellow study author Lara Aknin noted that levels of everyday kindness remained above pre-pandemic levels.
The unhappiest countries in the world for 2023
Afghanistan
Lebanon
Sierra Leone
Zimbabwe
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Botswana
Malawi
Comoros
Tanzania
Zambia
Madagascar
India
Liberia
Ethiopia
Jordan
Togo
Egypt
Mali
Gambia
Bangladesh
“For a second year, we see that various forms of everyday kindness, such as helping a stranger, donating to charity, and volunteering, are above pre-pandemic levels,” she added. “Acts of kindness have been shown to both lead to and stem from greater happiness.”
One country whose happiness has taken a hit in the past year is Ukraine which, at place 92 on the list, continues to be invaded by Russia.
Read more: Here's what happens to your body when you're happy
“The devastating impact of the war is evident to all, and so we also find that well-being in Ukraine has taken a real hit,” study author Jan-Emmanuel De Neve said. “But what is surprising, however, is that well-being in Ukraine fell by less than it did in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, and this is thanks in part to the extraordinary rise in fellow feeling across Ukraine as picked up in data on helping strangers and donations – the Russian invasion has forged Ukraine into a nation.”
