Finland named happiest country in the world

For the sixth year in a row, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world in the annual World Happiness Report, which ranks global happiness in more than 150 countries around the world.

Bangladesh ranked 118 among 137 countries, slipping from 94th position achieved last year. In the latest index, Nepal ranked 78, Pakistan 108, Sri Lanka 112, and India 126 among the neighbouring countries.

Overseen by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the report is released every year in honour of the International Day of Happiness on March 20, reports Forbes.

The ranking of the countries is based on data from sources like the Gallup World Poll, leveraging six key factors – social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

This year’s list is similar to past rankings in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019, with many of the same Nordic countries in the top spots. As with 2022, Denmark once again comes in at number two, followed by Iceland at number three.

The authors of the report said, “The Nordic countries merit special attention in light of their generally high levels of both personal and institutional trust.

“They also had Covid-19 death rates only one-third as high as elsewhere in Western Europe during 2020 and 2021 – 27 per 1,00,000 in the Nordic countries compared to 80 in the rest of Western Europe.”

They continued to say, “Finland continues to occupy the top spot, for the sixth year in a row, with a score that is significantly ahead of all other countries.”