Finland Voted World's Happiest Country For Fourth Year In A Row

Finland has been announced as the happiest place to live for the fourth year running.

This year's World Happiness Report - which as the name suggests looks at national happiness levels - is out and once again Finland has taken the top spot, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Rounding out the top ten was Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and Austria.

The United Kingdom fell from 13th to 18th place.

PA

The 2020 report said it had been 'a year like no other' due to the pandemic and, as such, the polls organisers took those considerations into account while conducting the study.

Sharing the results, the team from World Happiness Report said: "This whole report focuses on the effects of Covid-19 and how people all over the world have fared.

"Our aim was two-fold, first to focus on the effects of Covid-19 on the structure and quality of people's lives, and second to describe and evaluate how governments all over the world have dealt with the pandemic.

"In particular, we try to explain why some countries have done so much better than others."

The report found that despite the pandemic, the ranking more or less remained consistent with last year.

John Helliwell, who worked on the study, said: "Surprisingly there was not, on average, a decline in well-being when measured by people's own evaluation of their lives.

"One possible explanation is that people see Covid-19 as a common, outside threat affecting everybody and that this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and fellow-feeling."

PA

Talking about being named happiest nation for the fourth year running Heli Jimenez, senior director, international marketing at Business Finland, said: "Finnish happiness isn't skin deep and immediately visible - it's deeply engrained in our being.

"Sustainable happiness is our superpower, and it means we tend to take life as it comes - a trait that is helping us through these challenging times.

"We appreciate the small things in our daily lives, such as sitting quietly on a bench and staring at the empty lake after a relaxing sauna session or taking a morning dip in the sea before starting the working day."

Sounds good to me.

Top 20 Happiest Countries

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Switzerland
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Germany
8. Norway
9. New Zealand
10. Austria
11. Israel
12. Australia
13. Ireland
14. United States
15. Canada
16. Czech Republic
17. Belgium
18. United Kingdom
19. China
20. France

Topics: World News, Interesting

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19