Finland has once again defended its coveted title the happiest country in the world. It marks the fourth consecutive year, the Nordic nation has taken the first place, even against the background of a pandemic that shook the world.
Despite the catastrophic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in all walks of life, many of the best-ranked countries in terms of overall happiness remained at the top of the list, according to the 2021 World Happiness Report released on Friday, International Day before Happiness.
The report focuses primarily on the relationship between well-being and the pandemic, which has made it particularly difficult to collect responses from around the world. The editors note that in addition to the terrible pandemic of 2.6 million deaths worldwide, people around the world are also facing greater economic insecurity, anxiety, stress, mental and physical health challenges and general disruption of every aspect of daily life. .
“This year’s happiness report faced a unique challenge in trying to understand what effect the pandemic had on subjective well-being and vice versa,” the organization behind the report said in a statement. “Of all the factors that usually support happiness, the most important to explain COVID-19 mortality rates were people’s trust in each other and trust in their governments.”
This confidence, say the report’s editors, is one of the main reasons why Finland remains number 1.
“Surprisingly, there has been, on average, no decline in well-being when measured by one’s own assessment of people’s lives,” said editor John Helliwell. “One possible explanation is that people see COVID-19 as a common, external threat that affects everyone and that this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and a sense of fellowship.”
The United States ranked 14th on this year’s list.
The report aimed to address a key question that separates America and Europe from East Asia, Australia and Africa: “Why are different COVID-19 mortality rates around the world?”
Some of the factors that can contribute to this variation include the age of the population, regardless of whether the country is an island and the proximity to other countries with high infection rates. Cultural differences have also played a crucial role, including trust in public institutions, historical knowledge of past epidemics, income inequality, whether the nation’s leader is a woman, and whether lost wallets in the community are likely to be returned.
The report pointed out that pandemic policies can be just as effective when citizens are compliant, as is the case in East or more freedom-oriented Asia, as in Australia and New Zealand. Evidence has shown that morale improves when governments act.
“The East Asian experience shows that strict government policies not only effectively control Covid-19, but also cushion the negative impact of daily infections on people’s happiness,” said editor Shun Wang.
As a major victim of the pandemic and the resulting blockages, mental health it was also a key factor. For example, researchers found that overall mental health problems were 47% higher in the UK in May 2020, a few months after the pandemic.
“The World Happiness 2021 report reminds us that we need to focus on well-being rather than just wealth, which will be fleeting if we don’t do a much better job of tackling the challenges of sustainable development,” said report co-editor Jeffrey Sachs. .
As expected, the pandemic was severely affected well-being at work, another measure of global happiness. Job loss during the pandemic was associated with a 12% drop in life satisfaction, according to the report, which also predicts that switching to long-distance work is likely to last.
“Surprisingly, we find that among people who stopped working because of forglough or redundancy, the impact on life satisfaction was 40% more severe for people who felt lonely at first,” he said. editor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve. “Our report also points to a future ‘hybrid’ of work, balancing work and work at home to maintain social connections while ensuring workers’ flexibility, both of which are key factors. of well-being at work. “
The happiest countries in the world 2021
- Finland
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- Germany
- Norway
- New Zealand
- Austria
- Israel
- Australia
- Ireland
- United States
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- Belgium
- UK
- China
- France