Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row. Lithuania, meanwhile, has made it to the top 20 for the first time, according to the World Happiness Report published on Monday.
The report is compiled annually based on the surveys conducted by the Gallup Institute.
This year, the happiest Finns are followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and New Zealand.
Lithuania, ranked 20th, made it to the top for the first time, pushing France to the 21st place.
The Baltic country has steadily risen from 52nd place in 2017. Estonia (ranked 31st) and Latvia (41st) are also climbing up the list.
“It’s essentially the same story that’s playing out in the rest of Central and Eastern Europe,” John Helliwell, one of the authors of the World Happiness Report, was quoted as saying by CNN.
Countries in these regions “probably have normalised after the post-1990 transition and are feeling more solid in their new identity”, he added.
According to researchers, people’s happiness ratings have remained resilient despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with global averages for 2020-2022 as high as they were before the pandemic in 2017-2019.
The report, which is a publication of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, draws on global survey data from people in more than 150 countries. Countries are ranked on happiness based on their average life evaluations over the three preceding years.
Lebanon and war-torn Afghanistan remain the two unhappiest countries, according to the latest survey.
World’s happiest countries for 2023:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Canada
14. Ireland
15. United States
16. Germany
17. Belgium
18. Czech Republic
19. United Kingdom
20. Lithuania
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