20 March 2021

The world's happiest countries in 2021, covid-19 notwithstanding


Northern Europe: 
Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway

I have examined the World's Most Liveable Cities before, in 2016 and 2018, but now something different. Launched in 2012, the World Happiness Report is an annual survey ran by the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The survey ranks global happiness in countries around the world.

Although the World Happiness Reports are based on a wide variety of data, the most important source has always been the Gallup World Poll, which is unique in the range and comparability of its global series of annual surveys. The life evaluations from the Gallup World Poll prov­ide the basis for the an­nual happiness rankings that have always spark­ed widespread interest. Readers may be drawn in by wanting to know how their nation is faring but soon become curious about the secrets of life in the happiest countries. The Gallup team has always been extraordinarily helpful and efficient in getting each year’s data available in time for our annual launches on International Day of Happiness, March 20th. Right from the outset, we received very favour­able terms from Gallup and the very best of treatment. Gallup resear­ch­ers have also contrib­uted to the content of several World Happiness Reports. The value of this part­ner­ship was recognised by two Better­ment of the Human Conditions Awards from the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. The first was in 2014 for the World Happiness Report, and the second, in 2017, went to the Gallup Organisation for the Gallup World Poll.

So although the statisticians typically base the ranking on data from the Gallup World Poll, this year was a bit different. Since the researchers were unable to do face-to-face interviews in a number of countries, they focused on the relationship between well-being and Covid-19 in order to rank the countries.

“Surprisingly there was not, on average, a decline in well-being when measured by people’s own evaluation of their lives,” said University of British Columbia Prof John Helliwell, one of the people reporting. “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.”

We need urgently to learn from Covid-19. The pandemic reminds us of our global environmental threats, the urgent need to cooperate, and the difficulties of achieving cooperation in each country and glob­al­ly. The World Happiness Report 2021 reminds us that we must aim for wellbeing rather than mere wealth, which will be fleeting indeed if we don’t do a much better job of addressing the challenges of sustainable development.”

The Happiest Countries In The World, 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

It's official! Finland is the happiest country in the country for the fourth year running. So where did other countries fall on the list this year? Norway slipped a bit this year, coming in at number eight. Last year, Norway was at number 5, and in 2019, Norway was in the top three overall. United Kingdom slipped five spots from 2020, coming in at number 18, while Germany is at 7—up 10 spots. Another big leap was Croatia, which rose to 23 this year, up from number 79 in 2020.

Family fun
Tampere amusement park, Finland

One of the countries that had a challenging time this past year—China—made the top 20 in 2021, coming in at number 19. It was a dramatic leap from last year, when China was at 94. But the researchers, who took a deep dive into the lessons learned in Asia, weren’t surprised. “The East Asian experience shows that stringent government policies not only control Covid-19 effectively, but also buffer the negative impact of daily infections on people’s happiness,” said Shun Wang of the Korea Development Institute.

There were similar success rates in Australia, which ranked number 12 and New Zealand, at number nine. “The evidence shows that people’s morale improves when the government acts,” says the report’s editors.

Besides the happiest countries in the world, the Happiness Report also looked at the places where people are the most miserable. This year, countries like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Jordan were ranked as some of the unhappiest countries in the world.

But in a time like this, who needs to focus on being unhappy? So read on for the top 20 happiest countries in the world—and try to focus on happier days ahead. After all, as Richard Layard, co-director of the Wellbeing Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, points out: “Living long is as important as living well. In terms of well-being-years per person born, the world has made great progress in recent decades which even Covid-19 has not fully offset.”





12 comments:

Student of History said...

I used to think Brazil was the happiest, most musical, most colourful country. Now it is a sick, sad dictatorship.

Joe said...

Experience does show that stringent government policies control Covid-19 effectively, and probably increase national happiness. A look at New Zealand, Israel and Australia showed clearly. But those three countries did well in the World Happiest Nations Report for years back, long before anyhow heard of the pandemic. Stringent government policies are vital in their own right.

Hels said...

Student

me too... the young people I used to know from Brazil loved their country and its colourful joys.

Have a look at countryeconomy.com Brazil has done middlingly well since the World Happiness Index started and rose to the peak of its happiness in 2015 and 2016. It dipped right down to 35th in the world only this year.

Hels said...

Joe

I totally agree that that stringent government policies have controlled Covid-19 effectively in New Zealand, Israel and Australia, but if there was a connection to national happiness, it was not a direct connection. There must be an _additional_ element that had those three countries doing well ever since the world's countries were first tested.

Anonymous said...

What happened to Bhutan? A long time happiest country in the world.

Hels said...

Andrew

I know that good citizens of Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom near the Himalayas, considered themselves a very happy lot. But I didn't expect to find a tiny country, with mainly monasteries to celebrate life in, seriously ranked in this Happiness List. Silly me!

When the United Nations released a report ranking countries a couple of years ago (2017), Bhutan was ranked only 97th.

Parnassus said...

Hello Hels, And here I thought that college ranking were subjective! This survey makes you also wonder about whether a reversed cause-and-effect phenomenon is going on, whether the definition of happiness is somehow tied to the way it is felt in these places. For example, a photo of an amusement park is used to illustrated this survey of happy places, but I personally am happiest when kept away from such places!
--Jim

CherryPie said...

I am not sure that statistics and surveys can reveal the happiest country.

You can only get 'that vibe' by being there.

Hels said...

Parnassus

the measurements of happiness can indeed change, depending on the underlying definitions eg average income, unemployment rate, social support, universal health care, free schooling, GDP, housing density, safety from crime etc.

As _objective_ as these measurements are, I am sure it cannot be very easy to measure different nationals' feelings i.e their _subjective_ responses. For example, if I was being questioned, I would make climate my most important measure of happiness.

Hels said...

CherryPie

Statistics and surveys may not detect distinct national vibes... that is quite true. But the only way to get countries into an international project supervised by the United Nations is to use objective measures and scientific techniques.

Otherwise we would have countries saying we may have very high unemployment but we have the best food or greenest parks in the world!

bazza said...

Funny things statistics! A countries' move up or down the list doesn't really tell the whole story. What is more useful to know is the proportion of declared 'happiness' in a country compared to what is was before - not compared to another country.
It's also interesting how well the northern countries seem to do: Denmark was recently top in a different review due to their Hygge lifestyle. "Nordic countries rank so high on the happiness report because they have things like free education and healthcare, low crime rates, cushy social security nets, a relatively homogeneous population and they're fairly prosperous."
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s tenderly turbulent Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

Hels said...

bazza

a bit of movement really does not matter much since the differences between countries are very small. But retaining a constant position towards the top of the list of most of the world's c193 countries IS impressive! Every year Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Norway seem to do very well, in this report and in others.

Your quote was exactly correct! Nordic countries rank so highly on the World Happiness Report because they have free education and healthcare, low crime rates, and a decent average income. I am not sure if population homogeneity is measured in The World Happiness Report.