Finland once again topped the list of the happiest countries in the world. The global report from Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Center was published on Wednesday. It measures social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and lack of corruption, which determine a country’s national happiness.
Finland topped the list for the seventh year in a row, followed by Denmark and Iceland.
The Center’s director of research and editor of the report says factors that contribute to people’s well-being include GDP per capita, wealth distribution and overall well-being, which ensure psychological stability and healthy life expectancy.
“The Scandinavians really dominate the top five. At the very bottom is Afghanistan. He fell even lower in terms of wealth. That is, the average Afghan resident believes that his happiness on a scale from 0 to 10 is at 1.7. And in Denmark and Finland it is much higher, almost 8 out of 10. This is the average life satisfaction in these countries.”
According to the report, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the UK and Spain are countries where older people are significantly happier than younger people. While in Portugal and Greece the picture is the opposite.
Happiness levels among 15- to 24-year-olds fell sharply in North America, while Central and Eastern Europe saw the biggest increases.
The report found that happiness levels have declined in the Middle East and North Africa. There is a large decline among representatives of middle age groups.
War-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon remain the two most unhappy countries in the study.
Note that the first World Happiness Report was published in 2012.
