According to the annual list powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, Finland was, again, crowned the happiest country in the world. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Nordic nation has topped the list.
European nations scored big on the list, with New Zealand being the only non-European country to feature amongst the top 10. Finland was followed by Iceland and Denmark at number two and three respectively. Switzerland and the Netherlands rounded off the top 5 spots.
Interestingly, there were not many changes in the top 10 spots from last year, despite the fact that the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuring devastation caused much havoc in many parts of the world.
According to the report, one primary factor that contributed towards Finland topping the list was because it has “ranked very high on the measures of mutual trust that have helped to protect lives and livelihoods during the pandemic.”
The report has been primarily based on levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption income since it launched in 2012.
World’s happiest countries for 2021
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
Of the 149 countries featured on the report, Afghanistan was ranked the most unhappy once again, followed by Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Botswana. The ones ranked lowest on the list were mainly underdeveloped countries where issues such as political turmoil and armed conflict are common.
