Happiest is a branch in Denmark. Hardly a day goes by without another headline referring to the Danes as the world’s happiest people.
Meik Wiking is one of several writers who have made a career out of it. Not only has he written several bestselling books about the secret behind the Danes’ happiness, he is also the managing director of The Happiness Research Institutewhich can be found on Admiralgade in the center of Copenhagen.
But still, the Danes are not the happiest people in the world. This has not been the case since 2016. In the last six years, 2018-2023, the Finns have claimed the title (Norway won in 2017).
And beyond that, it’s the population of Finland/Denmark/Norway – “the residents of each country, rather than their citizenship or place of birth,” the report explains.
Somewhere up the ladder
Nevertheless, this year The World Happiness Report, which was published by the United Nations this morningranks Denmark as the second happiest country in the world – an increase of one place compared to last year – after perennial winners Finland.
The report, which draws most of its data from Gallup, is based on six main variables: real GDP per population, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and freedom from corruption.
However, a few other factors come into play, including the way the countries have handled corona.
Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand completed the top ten. The least happy nations were Afghanistan and Lebanon.
Source: The Nordic Page
