World’s happiest country for 2019 revealed

By MiNDFOOD

Scenic summer panorama of the Market Square (Kauppatori) at the Old Town pier in Helsinki, Finland
Scenic summer panorama of the Market Square (Kauppatori) at the Old Town pier in Helsinki, Finland

For the second year in a row, the world’s happiest country is… Finland!

Finland topped the list of 156 countries, which were ranked in the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 2019 World Happiness Report. The report – released on International Happiness Day – ranks countries on several well-being variables including income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy and more.

It is the second year the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network evaluated 117 countries by the happiness and well-being of their immigrants as part of the annual report.

Europe’s Nordic nations, none particularly diverse, have dominated the index since it first was produced in 2012.  

New Zealand and Australia ranked in the top 10, placing 8th and 10th respectively.

World’s happiest countries

1. Finland

2. Denmark

3. Norway

4. Iceland

5. Netherlands

6. Switzerland

7. Sweden

8. New Zealand

9. Canada

10. Australia

“The top 10 countries tend to rank high in all six variables, as well as emotional measures of well-being,” report co-editor John Helliwell, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia, tells CNN.

“It’s true that last year all Finns were happier than rest of the countries’ residents, but their immigrants were also happiest immigrants in the world,” says Helliwell. “It’s not about Finnish DNA. It’s the way life is lived in those countries.”

The North African nation of South Sudan was at the bottom of the happiness index also which found that the US was getting less happy each year even as the country became richer – falling from 14th to 19th place in two years.

World’s least happy countries

1. South Sudan

2. Central African Republic

3. Afghanistan

4. Tanzania

5. Rwanda

6. Yemen

7. Malawi

8. Syria

9. Botswana

10. Haiti

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