WORLD HAPPINESS DAY: Finland ranked happiest country in the world
Following the publication of the World Happiness Report, Finland has retained its place as the happiest country in the world for the third year in a row. The results are based on an annual survey which ranks world happiness based on measurements such as GDP, social support, health, generosity, personal freedom and levels of corruption. Out of the 153 countries featured in the report, the Nordic countries are all ranked within the top seven spots. Commonly, these countries are characterised by high levels of trust, robust social services, and strong state institutions. This year, the report also ranked cities for the first time. Based on city residents’ self-reports, Finland’s capital of Helsinki ranked as the happiest city, in line with the national results. “Arguably, this bottom-up approach gives a direct voice to the population as opposed to the more top-down approach of deciding ex-ante what ought to matter for the well-being of city residents,” say the authors behind the report. Read the full report here. Photo by: Carlos “Grury” Santos, Unsplash