Ranking: happiest countries in the world 2022

Ranking: happiest countries in the world 2022

Finland tops the ranking of the happiest countries in the world for the fifth year in a row

Happiness is a nebulous thing; elusive and harder to hold on to. Scientists, economists and philosophers over the centuries have defined it as a combination of several things, including health, wealth, companionship and security.

Since the United Nations (UN) adopted a Bhutan-sponsored resolution in 2011 entitled “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development,” governments have worked to give greater weight to happiness and well-being in determining how to achieve and measure social and economic development.

S_jakkarin/ShutterstockBhutan pioneered the recognition of happiness and well-being

Therefore, various indices try to rank the happiest countries in the world every year. The UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) World Happiness Report, now in its 10th year, is particularly interesting as it rates 146 countries based on how happy their citizens feel about themselves.

"A decade ago, governments around the world expressed a desire to put happiness at the heart of the global development agenda and adopted a UN General Assembly resolution to that end. The World Happiness Report grew out of this global determination to find the path to greater global well-being. Now, in times of pandemic and war, we need such efforts more than ever. And The lesson from the World Happiness Report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another and honesty in government are critical to well-being. World leaders should pay attention. Politics should be directed as the great sages long ago demanded: for the good of the people, not for the power of those in power.”

Jeffrey Sachs, World Happiness Report

The SDSN employs an international group of economists, neuroscientists and statisticians who survey citizens about their subjective well-being to produce a comprehensive annual list of the world's happiest countries.

assess happiness

SDSN emphasizes that its rankings are not an index like the longer-running Human Development Index (HDI) and the newer Happy Planet Index (HPI). These are often influenced by private sponsors and are only partially based on self-assessment - or do not use it at all.

SDSN emphasizes that its findings rely heavily on data from population samples in each country and use a life assessment survey to generate data on subjective well-being.

The report essentially relies on asking more than 1,000 people in each country a simple, subjective question:

“Imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top.

The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. What rung of the ladder do you think you’re currently on?”

World Happiness Report

That doesn't mean the report is without scientific basis. Economic and social factors are considered along with the survey (namely GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption), but the focus is on how satisfied citizens are; not as lucky as statisticians think they should be.

The 10 happiest countries

Once again Finland is named the happiest country in the world. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 are countries that are consistently among the happiest.

DENIS BELITSKY/SHUTTERSTOCKFinland remains the happiest country in the world

The 10 unhappiest countries

At the other end of the table, war-torn Afghanistan remains at the bottom as its humanitarian crisis continues to worsen following the Taliban's return to power in 2021.

alt=“A mountain scene from Romania – one of the most improved in this year’s Happiest Countries Index”>Roberto Sorin/ShutterstockRomania recorded one of the largest improvements in well-being

The geography of happiness

Not surprisingly, there is a strong connection between discontent and the world's poorest and most dangerous countries. Eight of the 10 unhappiest nations are in Africa, while the other two, Afghanistan and Lebanon, face political and financial instability. This year's report was prepared before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Eight of the 10 happiest countries are European nations with only Israel and New Zealand from outside Europe. The UK remains at number 17, while the US ranks at number 16, three places higher than last year and the highest-ranking country in America after Canada at number 15. France climbed to 20th, its highest position to date. Australia is 12th.

The highest-ranked country in the Middle East is Bahrain (21), with Taiwan (26) and Singapore (27) being the happiest countries in Asia. Costa Rica (23) is the happiest in Latin America, Uruguay (30) is the best in South America. Mauritius (52) is the happiest African nation in the ranking.

In terms of scores, Bulgaria (5.3), Romania (6.4) and Serbia (6.1) saw the biggest improvements, while Afghanistan (2.4), Lebanon (2.9) and Venezuela (4.9) saw the biggest declines.

Happiest countries in the world 2022 – full ranking

The World Happiness Report compiles data from the last three years of available surveys. The overall satisfaction scores are calculated from the average of the six factors mentioned above.

• Länder, die keine Daten von 2020 oder 2021 haben. Ihre Durchschnittswerte basieren auf dem Bericht von 2019.

**The last report was prepared before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The 10 happiest cities

In 2020, the report ranked individual cities based on residents' perceptions of their own well-being. Unsurprisingly, Finland's capital Helsinki took first place.

► View the full 2020 city ranking here.

For more rankings and articles, see our remote work section: ► Most Dangerous Countries in the World ► Countries with the Best Healthcare in the World ► The Worst Countries in the World to Drive ► Most Peaceful Countries in the World ► Best Countries for Women ► Poorest Countries in the World - Ranked ► The Most Powerful Passport in the World ► Countries with the Fastest Internet in the World ► The Most Stressed Countries in the World ► The most expensive cities for expats ► The most democratic countries in the world ► The happiest cities in the world

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