World's happiest country ranking goes to Finland for fifth year in a row

Denmark kept its second place, Iceland bypassed Switzerland to take third place and the Netherlands rounded out the top five

Finland was crowned the happiest country in the world for the fifth consecutive year, with a score significantly ahead of its peers in the World Happiness Report 2022 ranking.
 

Denmark kept its second place, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network said on Friday. Iceland bypassed Switzerland to take third place and the Netherlands rounded out the top five. The US ranked 16th, up three places from 2021.

“The lesson of the World Happiness Report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another, and honesty in government are crucial for well-being,” Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said.

Global happiness
 

Over the ten years the report has been published, the biggest gains in happiness have taken place in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, and biggest declines in Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan. The authors detected, on average, a long-term moderate upward trend in stress, worry, and sadness in most countries, as well as “a slight long-term decline in the enjoyment of life,” they wrote.

Key variables that contribute to explaining people’s life evaluations include GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom to make life choices and perceptions of corruption.

— With assistance by Jeremy Diamond