Finland retained the title of "happiest country in the world" for the fifth year in a row, having outperformed the rest of the world by a significant difference, while Lebanon and Afghanistan are at the bottom of the classification issued annually under the supervision of the United Nations for a decade, according to the World Happiness Report for 2022.
On Friday, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network stated that Denmark maintained the second place, followed by Iceland in third place, then Switzerland fourth and the Netherlands in fifth place, and the United States came in 16th place, and 3 places advanced from its ranking in 2021.
Finland "happiest" for the fifth year
With a score of 7.82 out of 10, Finland, the Scandinavian country of 5.5 million people, topped the ranking ahead of Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, countries that maintained their positions at the top of the annual ranking dominated by European countries, especially in Northern Europe.
The "Annual Happiness Report" showed that the "largest progress" in the rankings was recorded in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, while Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan witnessed the largest decline.
Lebanon ranks second to last and is witnessing an economic crisis that has been classified as among the 3 worst crises in the world since the mid-19th century (Getty Images)
Lebanon and Afghanistan
Lebanon - which is witnessing a stifling economic crisis that the World Bank has ranked among the 3 worst crises in the world since the mid-19th century - ranked penultimate with 2.95 points, ahead of Zimbabwe, while Afghanistan ranked last in the rating with 2.40.
Countries are regressing and others advancing
Germany and Canada fell one place each to 14th and 15th, respectively, in front of the United States, which ranked 16th, advancing 3 places, according to the official report, which includes about 150 countries and provides an assessment based on an average rate for the last three years.
France ranked 20th, up one place from last year, "in its best ranking since the study was launched", while the United Kingdom maintained its 17th place.
Brazil ranked 38th (down 3 places) and Japan 54th (upped 2 places), while Russia fell to 80th place (down 84 places) in this version of the report, which relies on data dating back to before the war on Ukraine. .
China advanced 12 places and ranked 72nd, while India ranked lower in the classification (136), despite advancing 3 places compared to last year's classification.
The largest declines in happiness rates came in Lebanon, Venezuela and Afghanistan.
The report monitored a moderate increase in the rates of stress, anxiety and sadness in most countries of the world, as well as a slight long-term decline in the rates of enjoyment of life, according to the authors of the report.
Afghanistan ranks last in the happiness rankings (Getty Images)
What determines the level of happiness?
The "Annual Happiness Report", issued under the supervision of the United Nations since 2012, is based on data from opinion polls around the world regarding people's assessment of their lives in more than 150 countries, especially statistics from the Gallup Institute based on presenting questions to the population about their perception of their level of happiness. With the results compared to the country's GDP and assessments related to the level of solidarity, individual freedom and corruption, to give an overall score for each country.
Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and one of the authors of the report, commented, "The lesson that the World Happiness Report gives us in recent years is that social solidarity, generosity among people, and honesty of governments are essential to the prosperity of the population," adding that "world leaders must take These factors are taken into account.
Scandinavian countries have been at the fore in this report since its launch, as Norway preceded Finland to the top in 2017, after Denmark had long been on top.