Finland remains in the lead. According to The annual report on happinessmade under the aegis of the UN and published Thursday, March 20, the Nordic country is still the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year. Fallen in 24th place, the United States recorded its lowest ranking and their worst score since the report of the report in 2012. This year, they had appeared in 11th row, their best ranking.
“The growing number of people who eat alone is one of the reasons for the drop in well-being in the United States,” said the authors of the report. Indeed, the sharing of meals “is strongly linked to well-being”, they write. However, the latter note that “the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased by 53 % in the past two decades”. In 2023, around one in four American said that he had taken all his meals alone the day before, according to the report.
The United States is also one of the rare countries to have an increase in “death out of despair” (suicide or consecutive to the excessive absorption of alcohol, drugs, etc.) at a time when these deaths are down in the majority of countries. Note, however, that the report analyzes the behavior of populations worldwide in 2022-2024, and is therefore not linked to the upheavals due to the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Nordic countries at the top of the ranking
Nordic countries are all classified among the 10 happier. Denmark, Iceland and Sweden are following Finland, which has slightly dug the gap with Denmark, its dolphin. Meanwhile, Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, respectively in sixth and tenth position. Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian disaster since the Taliban regained control in 2021, has once again ranked the most unhappy country in the world. For a third consecutive year, France descends into the ranking. Then 27th in 2024, it now only arrived in 33rd place, largely preceded by Switzerland (13th), Belgium (14th) or Canada (18th).
The classification of happiness is based on an average in three years of personal assessments of satisfaction in life, as well as on GDP per capita, social support, health expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.
A “company that works rather well”
“It seems that the Finns are relatively satisfied with their lives,” Frank Martela, assistant professor specializing in research on well-being and happiness at AALTO and Aalto in Espoo, near Helsinki, to AFP. This could largely be explained by the fact that the Finns live in a “company that works rather well,” he added. “Democracy works well, we have free elections, freedom of expression, and low levels of corruption” which contribute to “national well-being”, he continues. Nordic countries all have relatively solid social protection systems, with parental leave, unemployment benefits and mostly universal health care.
Eveliina Ylitolonen, a 23 -year -old student in Helsinki, thinks that the consideration of the Finns for the beauty of nature explains the level of happiness in the country, known for its deep forests and more than 160,000 lakes. “Nature is an important element of this happiness,” said Ylitolonen to AFP. For Jamie Sarja-Lambert, a professional video game player who left the United Kingdom to settle in Finland, the observation is the same. “It seems that everyone is much more in contact with nature, sorts and socializes more to form a community,” he told AFP.
In their report this year, the authors also say they have new evidence that acts of generosity and belief in the kindness of others are “significant predictors of happiness, even more than earning a higher salary”.