Finland took first place in the ranking of the happiest countries in the world
As RFI notes, the Nordic countries topped the happiness ranking: Norway and Denmark took second and third places respectively, while Finland came first. On the African continent, Libyans were recognized as the happiest – their country ranked 70th. The unhappiest people live in the Central African Republic and Burundi. The compilers of the ranking attribute this to military aggression in the territories of these states.
This year, the report came with a special appendix dedicated to the happiness level of migrants in the countries surveyed. In this additional ranking, Finland retained the first position. Scientists noticed that the higher the happiness index of the local population, the more comfortable representatives of other nationalities who have moved to that country for a long period feel.
The ten countries at the top of the 'overall happiness' ranking also led the ranking of so-called 'migrant happiness'. One of the authors of the report, Senior Fellow at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia John Helliwell, noted in an interview with The New York Times that migrants adapt to the 'average happiness level of the population'.
The other two authors of the 'World Happiness Report' are representatives of American and British higher education institutions and research centers: Dr. Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University and Richard Layard, Director of the Wellbeing Programme at the London School of Economics.
In addition to the relationship between the happiness of the local population and migrants, scientists noted several other interesting trends. For example, scientists noted that the countries topping the ranking differ in their political philosophy from the United States of America, which ranked 18th. The USA, by the way, unlike all other countries, showed a worse result than in previous years. According to the compilers of the ranking, this may be due to the political climate in the country.
The report was published five days before the International Day of Happiness. This holiday was introduced by the UN in 2013 and is celebrated on March 20.