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.”