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For the sixth consecutive year, Finland today clinched the spot as the happiest country in the world in an annual UN-sponsored index that found kindness is up sharply in Ukraine but falling in Russia.
THE world happiness report is a measure of happiness published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network every year since 2012.
“Kindness has risen sharply in Ukraine”
In Ukraine, despite “the extent of the suffering and damage“after the Russian invasion in 2022, there is”a much stronger sense of common purpose, kindness and trust in Ukrainian leadership“only in the aftermath of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea,” Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, one of the report’s writers, said in a statement.
In 2022, “kindness rose sharply in Ukraine but fell in Russia“, he noted, referring to acts like helping a stranger or making a donation. While Ukraine’s ranking has fallen from 98 to 92 since the previous year’s report – which was completed before the Russian invasion – his overall score went from 5.084 to 5.071, on a scale of zero to 10.
While the same countries largely top the list year after year, the report’s authors identified the Baltic countries as rapidly progressing towards Western European levels.
The only new country among the 20 countries on the happiest list, Lithuania moved up to 20th – leaving France at 21st – while Estonia’s ranking fell from 66th in 2017 to 31st in 2023.
Despite the Ukrainian and Covid crises, “various forms of everyday kindness, such as helping a stranger, donating to charity and volunteering, are above pre-pandemic levels” worldwide for the second consecutive year, said Professor Lara Aknin, another author of the report.
Afghanistan scarred by decades of war, which has been last on the annual index since 2020, has seen its humanitarian crisis worsen since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of troops led by the Taliban. UNITED STATES.
Good in your body, good in your head!
People in northern countries are the happiest in Europe
The World Happiness Report, first published in 2012, is based on people’s assessment of their happiness, as well as economic and social data. The report considers six key factors: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and freedom from corruption. It assigns a satisfaction score based on an average of data over a three-year period.
This year, Northern Europe once again dominated the top spots – with Denmark ranked second behind Finland, followed by Iceland. Fourth position went to Israel, up five places from last year.