World Happiness Report 2020
/The World Happiness Report was published on 20 March 2020 and can be downloaded or read on line.
“From 2013 until today, every time the World Happiness Report (WHR) has published its annual ranking of countries, the five Nordic countries – Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland – have all been in the top ten, with Nordic countries occupying the top three spots in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Clearly, when it comes to the level of average life evaluations, the Nordic states are doing something right, but Nordic exceptionalism isn’t confined to citizen’s happiness. No matter whether we look at the state of democracy and political rights, lack of corruption, trust between citizens, felt safety, social cohesion, gender equality, equal distribution of incomes, Human Development Index, or many other global comparisons, one tends to find the Nordic countries in the global top spots.”
For the first time The World Happiness Report ranks cities around the world by their subjective well-being and Nordic cities take six of the ten top places.
1 Helsinki, Finland
2 Aarhus, Denmark
3 Wellington, New Zealand
4 Zurich, Switzerland
5 Copenhagen, Denmark
6 Bergen, Norway
7 Oslo, Norway
8 Tel Aviv, Israel
9 Stockholm, Sweden
10 Brisbane, Australia
“What exactly makes Nordic citizens so exceptionally satisfied with their lives? ….. Through reviewing the existing studies, theories, and data behind the World Happiness Report, we find that the most prominent explanations include factors related to the quality of institutions, such as reliable and extensive welfare benefits, low corruption, and well-functioning democracy and state institutions. Furthermore, Nordic citizens experience a high sense of autonomy and freedom, as well as high levels of social trust towards each other, which play an important role in determining life satisfaction. On the other hand, we show that a few popular explanations for Nordic happiness such as the small population and homogeneity of the Nordic countries, and a few counterarguments against Nordic happiness such as the cold weather and the suicide rates, actually don't seem to have much to do with Nordic happiness.”
