Finland Ranked As The Happiest Country in The World, for The Seventh Year in A Row

According to the 2024 World Happiness Report, Finland is the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Israel too has made it to the top five. Finland has held this place for the seventh consecutive year.

The countries were rated based on these crucial variables: DP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity and perception of corruption.

While the top ten countries have remained in the same position since before the pandemic, the biggest change came from the Eastern European countries. Many of these countries have occupied top positions in the happiness report.

The United States of America dropped in its rankings. America moved from the 16th spot last year to the 23rd spot this year. Germany is at 24, Canada at 15, UK at 20 and France stood at 27.

Among Asian countries, Singapore has ranked the highest in the happiness index. India ranked 126th while China ranked 60th, Nepal stood at 93, Pakistan at 108, Myanmar at 118, Sri Lanka at 128 and Bangladesh occupied the 129th spot.

Afghanistan is the least happy country after Congo, Sierra Leone, Lesotho and Lebanon.

Lithuania, Israel, Serbia, Iceland and Denmark topped the list when it came to ranking happiness in younger people. Finland ranked seventh while India occupied the 127th position in this slot.

Nordic nations ranked the highest when it came to rating happiness in older people. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland ranked higher in the list while India occupied the 121st spot in this category. “Countries ranking highest for the old are generally countries with high overall rankings, but include several where the young have recently fared very poorly,” said the report.

It was reported that there was higher life satisfaction among older people in India however it was the older men who enjoyed higher life satisfaction when compared to their female counterparts. Education and caste also played a major role in the quality of life enjoyed by senior citizens in India.

This year’s report revealed that overall men were happier than women. Also the younger generation was happier than the older generation in most countries except a few.

The World Happiness Report is published annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The top 10 happiness rankings (world):

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia