Finland was ranked, on Friday, as “the happiest country in the world” for the fifth year in a row, in a ranking in which Lebanon and Afghanistan concluded the march and France got its best ranking.
With a score of 7.82 out of 10, the northern country with a population of 5.5 million is ahead of Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, at the top of the ranking unchanged and dominated by European countries and from Northern Europe in particular.
The three largest increases were in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. The biggest setbacks are in Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan,” according to the “World Happiness Report,” an annual study sponsored by the United Nations that began ten years ago.
Lebanon, shaken by turmoil and a serious economic crisis, falls to the penultimate position, with a score of 2.95 points, behind Zimbabwe and slightly ahead of Afghanistan, which died again this year with a score of 40, 2.
The study, published since 2012, primarily uses Gallup polls that ask residents about their happiness level, with reference to GDP and assessments regarding level of solidarity, individual liberty, and corruption, to arrive at the overall score.
Germany and Canada are in one place to 14th and 15th, respectively, ahead of the United States (16, +3), according to the official ranking of about 150 countries, which weighs data from the past three years.
France ranks 20 (+1), “its best ranking since the study existed”, while the United Kingdom ranks 17th (unchanged).
Among the other major powers, Brazil ranks 38 (-3), Japan is 54 (+2), and Russia ranks 80 (-4) in this version completed before the invasion of Ukraine.
China jumped 12 places to 72nd, India is still far from the bottom of the rankings (136) but has 3 places.
Co-author Jeffrey Sachs commented: “The lesson from the World Happiness Report in recent years is that social solidarity, generosity among people, and honesty in government are essential to well-being.”
“World leaders should take that into account,” he pleads.
The Nordic countries have made a raid since the report was prepared: ahead of Finland, Norway won in 2017 and Denmark has long held the lead.