Canada and Israel are on the happiest countries list; Brazil drops 11 places

For the sixth year in a row, Finland is the happiest country in the world in 2023, the World Happiness Report – a traditional quality of life survey conducted by data consulting firm Gallup at the request of the United Nations – showed on Monday, International Day of Happiness, a date also marked by the UN ten years ago.

The country and its neighbors – Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway – earned high rankings thanks to high scores in healthy life expectancy, gross domestic product per person, social support structure, low corruption rates, generosity in the community (measured through donations and other benevolent acts), and freedom to make crucial decisions for one’s life.

Other factors also weighed in the assessment: indices of physical and mental health of the inhabitants, the structure of human relationships in each society (family, professional or community), salary and employment rates, levels of trust among the population, government effectiveness and management of the covid-19 pandemic – including numbers of deaths related to the disease.

However, the Nordics’ performance was expected due to their consistency in previous rankings, especially since the 2023 assessment considers results from 2020 to 2022.

The big surprises were Israel and Lithuania. The former jumped five places from 2022 to here, from 9th place to 4th.

Meet the 20 happiest countries in the world.

THE 20 HAPPIEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

1st: Finland

2nd: Denmark

3rd: Iceland

4th: Israel

5th: Netherlands

6th: Sweden

7th: Norway

8th: Switzerland

9º: Luxembourg

10th: New Zealand

11th: Austria

12th: Australia

13th: Canada

14th: Ireland

15th: United States

16th: Germany

17th: Belgium

18th: Czech Republic

19th: United Kingdom

20th: Lithuania

WHY ARE ISRAEL AND LITHUANIA ON THE RISE?

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Israel leaps ahead of most countries in health, social connections, and satisfaction with the quality of life.

Meanwhile, Lithuania debuted in the top 20 at 20th place. In 2017, it was 52nd.

Baltic countries like Estonia and Latvia have also been increasing their rankings.

“It’s essentially the same story that’s already been happening in the rest of Central and Eastern Europe,” John Helliwell, one of the researchers who led the study and also a professor emeritus at the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia in Canada, commented to CNN American.

“[Countries in this region] have probably normalized after the transition of the 1990s and are more solid in their new identities,” he explained. He refers to the process of nations leaving the former Soviet Union, which dissolved in December 1991.

BRAZIL’S SITUATION

Brazil ranked 49th – out of 137 countries assessed – with a total score of 6,125 points in the happiness ranking. In 2022, the country appeared high on the list: in 38th place.

By comparison, Finland scored 7,804 out of a possible 10,000 points this year.

Regarding the inequality of happiness between the portions of the population at the top and bottom of society, Brazil ranked 88th, with Afghanistan being the unequal country.

In the sample assessment of seven key countries for their regions (Brazil, Egypt, France, India, Mexico, Indonesia, and the United States), Brazil performed the worst in almost all social connectedness items.

It was below average in community support, connections, and loneliness. Satisfaction in relationships was just above the world average.

AT THE END OF THE QUEUE

Countries at war or with internal conflicts had the worst results in the World Happiness Report.

Afghanistan is at the bottom of the ranking, in 137th place, preceded by Lebanon.

Russia and Ukraine, currently at war, also fell down the well-being list, although Ukraine has strengthened “its common sense of purpose, benevolence, and confidence in its government.”

Ukraine’s trust in the Russian government has dropped to zero over the past year, although Russians are more confident in their leadership than in 2022.

Currently, Russia is ranked 70th in happiness, and Ukraine is 92nd.

WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM THE NORDICS?

“They are doing things we wish we had seen before, and can we start now? Is it a unique aspect of their climate and history that makes them different? Fortunately, from my perspective, the answer lies in the first [question],” John Helliwell pointed out to the US vehicle.

For the scholar, the happiest countries have in common an understanding that well-being is achieved when all components of society and its members are aligned for a better quality of life.

The study also highlights that “the goal of every institution should be to contribute” to preserving fundamental human rights.

With information from UOL