This European country was just named the happiest in the world – for the fourth time in a row

  • 25 May - 31 May, 2024
  • Mag The Weekly
  • Mag Files

In a year filled with heartache and strife, one European country has remained consistent in its happiness, topping the World Happiness Report for the fourth year in a row. Finland came in at No. 1 in happiness for 2021, according to a new report released that included four other European countries in the Top 5. Though the report has come out each year since 2012, this year's posed a "unique challenge" due to the pandemic, which prevented most of the face-to-face interviews typically used to compile data. The report called Finland's win "no surprise," and said that it consistently ranked high in measuring mutual trust, which has helped protect lives and livelihoods during the pandemic. John Helliwell, a professor at the University of British Columbia who contributed to the report, said that despite covid, this year saw no actual average decline in well-being when measured by people's own evaluation of their lives. "One possible explanation is that people see covid-19 as a common, outside threat affecting everybody and that this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and fellow-feeling," he said. Following Finland, the other countries that made the top 10 were, in order, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and Austria, according to CNN.

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