Finland, the happiest country in the world… But how do we know?

On the occasion of World Happiness Day on Tuesday March 20, a UN-sponsored report was unveiled. It establishes a ranking of the countries in which people live happiest. To do this, it relies in particular on a survey carried out each year in more than a hundred countries.

For the seventh year in a row, Finland has been declared the happiest country in the world. Out of 143 countries, France ranks 27th.^e place, while none of the most populous countries in the world appear in the top 20 places in the ranking. At the back of the pack, we find Afghanistan, the country where people live the least happily.

Where does this ranking come from?

This ranking comes from the World Happiness Report, published annually since 2012, by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, an entity attached to the United Nations.

This World Happiness Report is a partnership between this network, the American polling company Gallup and the Oxford Well-being Research Center, we can read on their website.

What is the methodology used?

This report is based on how people in different countries rate their happiness. The ranking is therefore mainly based on the answers given to a questionnaire called the “Cantril scale”. Concretely, respondents are asked to visualize a scale from 0 to 10 and to evaluate their current life on this scale. 10 being the best possible life and 0 being the worst possible life. The ranking is then carried out on the basis of an average of the responses given over three years in a row.

Researchers then analyze and interpret these results taking into account six main criteria: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity, and the level of corruption. Around 100,000 people participate in this survey each year, or around 1000 in each country.

Is Finland really the happiest country to live in?

Yes, if we look at the responses across all ages. On the other hand, if we stick to the responses of the youngest (under 30), Finland falls to 7^e place and it is Lithuania which takes first place. If, on the other hand, we only take the responses of the oldest people (over 60 years old), Denmark takes the lead, Finland is 2^eand France gains two small places by arriving 25th^e.