Why Is Finland the Happiest Country in the World?
This article was originally published on June 25th, 2022. It has been expanded and updated with new information.
For the sixth year in a row, Finland continues to be the happiest country in the world according to the world happiness report. Not only is Finland the happiest, but it also takes first place with a score significantly ahead of other countries in the top ten.
Now the real meat of this blog post is the World Happiness Report and the insight it offers on happiness. But being from Finland, I could not resist the temptation to share my thoughts about why I think Finland is the happiest country in the world.
The memes around the internet portraying the Finnish people don’t exactly paint a picture of a nation full of happy, smiling folk. And if you’ve read the about page on my website, you might remember that anxiety and depression are common problems in Finland.
It is estimated that 20 – 25 % of Finnish adults suffer from a mental health disorder every year and 20 % have had suicidal thoughts at some point in their life.
So what gives? Why is Finland the happiest country in the world?
The World Happiness Report
First, let’s take a look at the report. This year marks the 11th anniversary of the World Happiness Report.
The report uses global data about how people evaluate their own lives.
The conclusions are based on a wide variety of data, but the most important source is Gallup World Poll. This poll is conducted in more than 150 countries worldwide.
Life evaluations, the answers people give, provide the basis for the annual happiness rankings
The World Happiness Report measures and ranks subjective well-being based on three main well-being indicators:
- life evaluations
- positive emotions
- negative emotions
Note how the emphasis is on self-evaluation and subjective well-being. The report indeed does try to measure the subjective feelings of happiness, but the total happiness ranking is based on a multitude of factors.
There is, for example, a whole section (in the 2022 report) dedicated to understanding happiness from the point of genetically informative research. This research indicates that feelings of happiness can be affected by:
- Genes
- Brain mass in certain areas of the brain
- Physiology, especially hormones
Then there are factors, like the effect of environmental influences, that are independent of the genes.
Universal Desire For Happiness
Of course, happiness is not all genes and environment. As we know, it is a subjective feeling.
But it’s good to understand the factors that might affect that feeling, as this helps in planning and creating happiness-enhancing policies and environments.
Speaking of the environment, the recent pandemic brought with it a lot of anxiety and depression. It also revealed to us some fundamental aspects of human life, which we had forgotten.
You’d think that the pandemic would show up in the report as an increase in negative emotions, but surprisingly enough, the results are quite the opposite!
On the “about happiness on demand” page of this website, I mention Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist who lived in the early 20th century.
Long story short: Durkheim’s theory suggested that being a part of a community that is striving towards common goals is linked to lower suicide rates (one could argue that it is linked to lower depression as well).
Well, guess what?
The report shows, that during the pandemic there was a worldwide increase in social support and benevolence. When faced with a common threat, people started working together towards a common goal.
There seems to be a universal desire for happiness and the public reactions to the pandemic proved the capacity of individuals to rally for each other’s support in times of great need.
Happiness Is On The Rise
As mentioned, the pandemic did not lower the score for feelings of happiness; they seem to be on the rise.
Back in last year’s (2022) report, it’s stated that: “Positive emotions are more than twice as frequent as negative emotions. Looking at last year’s data, the global average of positive emotions was 0.66 (i.e., the average respondent experienced 2 of the 3 positive emotions the previous day) compared to the global average of 0.29 for negative emotions.”
What’s more, there seems to be a growing global interest in happiness. A growing number of academic studies on happiness are being made and the word “happiness” as well as its synonyms appear in print more and more each year.
So interest in happiness and feelings of happiness are on the rise. Despite the not-so-peachy last couple of years we’ve had.
Since my blog is all about bold claims that go against the established narrative, I’m willing to say that what we are witnessing now is a global shift in consciousness.
We, the human race, are finally starting to grow emotionally and awakening to the fact that life is supposed to be fun!
We Can Make Things Even Better
Think what you will of the claim I just made, but I’m all about optimism.
Remember: What your life looks like to you, is dependent on your beliefs about it. If we collectively believe that we, the human race, will become happier and happier, then that’s what we’ll manifest in the world.
So stay positive! Even though it’s been rough going for too long and now there’s a war going on in Europe, things are about to change. Nothing stays forever. Change is the only constant in the universe. Things will get better.
In any case, this report should open our eyes to the fact that, despite all that’s going on, subjective happiness is on the rise. It might be hard to see “the big picture” with all the negativity being thrown around in the mainstream media, but as is often the case, the truth is stranger than fiction.
And as is concluded in the report, this information should be used to create happiness-enhancing interventions, social policies, activities, and environments:
“…more and more people have come to believe that our success as countries should be judged by the happiness of our people. There is also a growing consensus about how happiness should be measured. This consensus means that national happiness can now become an operational objective for governments.”
The happiest country in the world
Now, what about Finland? What can we learn about happiness from the Finnish people?
There’s a saying in Eastern Finland that goes “If you have it all figured out, you must have misunderstood”.
That’s why I don’t claim to have all the roots of Finnish happiness figured out. And I must admit that thinking about what makes Finnish people happy can be a bit puzzling. We are a people used to focusing on the negative.
To put it plainly, we tend to think that everything sucks: The winters are too cold and dark, the summers are too hot and bright, there’s plenty of space in the countryside but nothing to do, but if you go to a city it’s too crowded and noisy.
Our schools are free for all, but learning anything is boring and pointless. Even if you have something nice, your neighbor has something even better, which makes you upset.
This is the mindset of the happiest people in the world.
I’m (partly) joking of course, but this insight brings us to my point:
We are happy because we have freedom.
Freedom Leads To Happiness
The Finnish people have unparalleled freedom in their lives to be and do what they wish.
This freedom here in Finland is so exceptional, that if (and when) we get too accustomed to it, we start to think that everything sucks.
But the truth is that this is just a byproduct of having all the choices available to us. We don’t know what to choose, so we complain about it!
The following ties in well with the hierarchy of needs discussed in the blog post here. Go check it out, it will help clarify this point.
In Finland, the basic needs of the people are met, and there is no lack of social, or any other, security. There’s not much crime, no money worries (the government will take care of us if all else fails), the environment is safe and clean, etc.
This allows for the lives of the Finnish people to be about something more than mere survival.
Everyone is guaranteed a good education and the opportunity to pursue their desired career. Career opportunities are plentiful and the government supports people who want to start their own businesses.
These education and career opportunities fulfill even more of the people’s basic needs so that they can pursue even higher goals.
And this is what makes Finland so unique:
When you can live your life without worrying about meeting your basic needs, it is easy to focus on who and what you wish to become. You are free to choose and express your grandest ideas about yourself and create the life of your dreams.
That freedom, to me, is the thing that makes us so happy here in Finland, whether we recognize this or not.
So if you want to be happy, seek freedom.
Don’t believe me - it’s been studied and proven
According to a report by The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the No. 1 contributor to happiness in life is not money, love, good looks, or even fame.
The most important factor in well-being (happiness) is autonomy.
Results suggest that a key to well-being may be experiencing higher autonomy, regardless of what you do.
Autonomy is defined in the report as:
“the feeling that your life, its activities, and habits, are self-chosen and self-endorsed.”
Sounds like freedom to me.
Measure Progress Based On Happiness
Another accomplishment for Finland, which is worth mentioning in this context, is that in the Failed States Index (currently Fragile States Index) Finland is the least failed country in the world (yay!?). If there’s one thing we can learn from Finland, it’s that the more freedom people have in their lives, the happier the nation can be.
Here’s something for the politicians:
If you don’t want your nation to fail, strive for greater freedom in your country.
Moving forward, we should learn from the World Happiness Report and Finland. The data in the report is important for studying and understanding happiness from the health and well-being perspective. Also, the report can serve as a guide for individuals and societies toward better lives.
Furthermore, as is mentioned in the report, we need (and this is already emerging) a narrative change in the way we view success in our society.
Governments should begin to privilege the human experience of well-being in their conception of progress.
What this means, is that instead of concentrating on the usual markers of success, like GDP, we should shift the narrative towards
a modern, happiness-oriented view of human experience.
Isn’t that an interesting concept?
Nations should measure their success based on the overall happiness of people.
And based on the data in the report, this is already starting to happen.
Happiness Is Still Subjective
However, the bottom line in the World Happiness Report is, that: “Populations do not experience happiness; individuals do. No matter the extent to which shared or collective undertakings, experiences, or even identities contribute to happiness, it is ultimately individual brains that experience and report satisfaction, joy, or their absence or opposites”.
This is precisely why I put so much emphasis on finding your own truth about happiness. It is how you feel, how you experience things, that matters. There is nothing else apart from your own experience.
If you think that it’s easy for me to say, living in Finland and all, that freedom will make you happy – you’d be right. Things are pretty good here, not gonna lie, and I recognize that freedom is not that guaranteed elsewhere in the world. That’s why I’m going to leave you with this insight, that might help.
You Are Free To Choose Your Thoughts
No matter what the circumstances around you are, and what freedom you have or don’t have in your life, there’s one thing that you will always have:
Free will.
No one can control what you think and how you feel. You have freedom in your thoughts, and what you can think can be made manifest in your life. This may not happen quickly or easily, but there is always potential for it to happen.
You can also try reframing your thoughts: If you think things are bad, I bet you can easily imagine how things could be worse. Think about what a really bad situation might look like and you will notice that things are not that bad in your life after all.
Then focus on the positive. Try to find the little things that bring you happiness and build on those.
Conclusion
The World Happiness Report measures happiness based on many different factors, but the emphasis is on self-evaluation and subjective well-being.
Finland takes the #1 spot for the sixth time in a row.
Although Finnish people experience much anxiety and depression, the country takes care of the people’s basic needs fairly well.
The fulfillment of basic needs brings freedom to the lives of Finnish people, who are then able to pursue their dreams.
Freedom goes hand in hand with happiness. Even if you don’t have much freedom otherwise, you are always free to choose your thoughts and feelings.
The World Happiness Report can serve as a guide for individuals and societies toward better lives.
Happy people are healthy, prosocial, and productive. Every dollar spent on improving happiness contributes to fewer health problems, fewer problems in social interactions, and more productivity. The net cost of improving people’s happiness by, for example, providing excellent mental health care, is most likely negative or zero.
National happiness can, and should, now become an operational objective for governments. We need to start taking happiness seriously and place it front and center of future decision-making.
Disclaimer
The entire contents of this blog are based upon the opinions of the author. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. The information in this blog is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care professional before trying any of the products or methods based on this content. I cannot guarantee that you will be free of stress, anxiety or depression, or that you will be happy. I simply want to share with you what I have discovered during my twenty years of seeking happiness and what has worked for me may not work for you.
