FINLAND (Reuters) – Monday is the International Day of Happiness, and Finland once again tops the World Happiness Report, according to the United Nations.
The report was released Monday and measures social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and the absence of corruption to determine a country’s national happiness.
Finland is topping the list for a sixth year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
According to the report, most populations around the world continue to be remarkably resilient despite several crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, global energy crisis, high inflation and the war in Ukraine.
More generally it said people are happier living in countries where the happiness gap is smaller.
Lithuania is the only new country in the top twenty but war-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon remain the two unhappiest countries in the survey.
The first World Happiness Report from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which is a United Nations global initiative, was published in 2012.