For the sixth year in a row, Finland was ranked the world’s happiest country on Monday in a UN-supported index that found kindness has risen sharply in Ukraine but fallen in Russia.
The World Happiness Report is a measure of happiness published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network every year since 2012.
In Ukraine, despite the “scale of suffering and damage” since the Russian invasion in 2022, there is a “stronger sense of common purpose, compassion and trust in the Ukrainian leadership” than when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Professor John said. – Emmanuel de Neve, one of the report’s authors, was quoted in a statement.
In 2022, he found, “Kindness rose sharply in Ukraine but fell in Russia,” referring to actions like helping a stranger or donating.
Ukraine’s ranking fell from 98 to 92 from the previous year’s report – which was completed before the Russian invasion – and its overall score dropped from 5.084 to 5.071, down 10 on the zero scale.
While the same countries top the list year after year, the report’s authors find that the Baltic countries are rapidly moving towards Western European levels.
The only new country in the 20 happiest list, Lithuania has moved up to 20th place – leaving France at 21st – while Estonia’s ranking has fallen from 66th in 2017 to 31st in 2023.
Another professor, Laura Agnin, said that despite the Ukraine and Covid crises, “everyday acts of kindness, such as helping a stranger, donating to charities and volunteering, have exceeded pre-pandemic levels worldwide for the second year in a row.” Author of the report.
Afghanistan, which has seen its humanitarian crisis worsen since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of Taliban-led troops, is last in the annual index since 2020.
The World Happiness Report, first published in 2012, is based on people’s assessment of their happiness and economic and social data. The report considers six key factors: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity and freedom from corruption. It provides a satisfaction score based on average data over a three-year period.
This year, Northern Europe once again dominated the top spots – Denmark came second behind Finland, followed by Iceland. Israel was ranked fourth, up 5 places from last year.
