This year’s report, published three years after the coronavirus pandemic began, surveyed some 137 countries and found that there was a global increase in «goodwill» in 2020, particularly in 2021.
«Our country’s average happiness and rankings, both for emotions and life evaluations, have held remarkably stable over the three years of Covid-19,» John Helliwell, one of the report’s authors, said in a statement. a statement on Monday.
Misery measures “dipped slightly” during those years, the report said, adding that most populations around the world continued to be “remarkably resilient” during the pandemic. Life satisfaction averages around the world were as high between 2020 and last year as they were before, she said.
In 2020 and 2021, countries that tried to stop community transmission of the coronavirus had lower death rates and better overall well-being, the report added.
«Even during these difficult years, positive emotions have remained twice as frequent as negative ones, and feelings of positive social support are twice as strong as those of loneliness,» said Helliwell, a professor at the University of British Columbia.
The report was prepared based on six variables: gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to choose in life, generosity, perception of corruption, dystopia, a benchmark for the least happy countries in the world. .
But why is Finland so happy?
In the small country north of the Arctic Circle, with a population of about 5.5 million, commutes to work are often quick, freeing up more time in the day for people to have fun, according to the report.
He added that some have pointed to the Finnish concept of «sisu», which describes people’s stoicism, determination and resilience.
In the past, Finland has used previous victories to promote tourism and its natural beauty, particularly its nocturnal phenomenon.
While many countries further south in the Northern Hemisphere struggle with declining daylight hours and vitamin D deficiency, from May to August the sun does not set in Finland at all. Farther south, the sun can be seen most of the day during June and July.
However, some academic research has pointed to a spike in suicide rates coinciding with the solstice