Happiest Places

Picture Credits: Taneli Lahtinen - Unsplash

The Lietvesi Scenic Road in Finland. A scenic route where it is nearly impossible to not stop and take a look at the gorgeous scenery.

Averi Costa, Student Life Co-Section Leader
May 19, 2023

As summer quickly approaches, temperatures and expectations of travel rise. To help discover a destination the 2023 World Happiness Report released the happiest countries in the world, with Finland occurring as the happiest country for the sixth year in a row.

A cause for optimism in the latest report of world happiness shows benevolence levels 25% higher than they were pre-pandemic. In an interview with CNN 10 John Helliwell, an author of the World Happiness Report states, “Benevolence to others, especially the helping of strangers, which went up dramatically in 2021, stayed high in 2022,”, proving world happiness to be resilient as happiness averages stay around the same the three years preceding the pandemic.

The happiness report measures its rankings based on: GDP per capita, low corruption, healthy life expectancy, social support, and generosity in communities where people look out for the freedom to make life decisions and each other. Finland, with a score of 7.80 is significantly ahead of other countries. Finland’s neighbors; Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway, all score high on the World Happiness Report as well.

The country Finland’s official name is the Republic of Finland with a population of around 5.5 million. Nearly 90 percent of the population speaks Finnish and the majority of the people living in Finland were born and raised in the country. The northernmost country receives nearly 24 hours of daylight during the summer but receives almost 24 hours of sunless nights during the winter. Many Finns have second homes in the Finnish forests to escape the busy city life, viewing the forests as places for shelter and adventure. With that being said, the reason Finland is “happier” is due to high social support, low corruption levels, lower income inequality, and their freedom to make decisions.

A second home found in the beautiful forests of Finland. Where Finns can escape the crazy city life. (Picture Credits: Anne Nygard – Unslapsh)

Finland, with an impressive six-year run of being the world’s happiest country, would be a fantastic place to start summer traveling but since not everyone can make it to Finland, take a look at the official rankings of the top 20 happiest countries in the 2023 World Happiness Report:

  1. Finland (7.804)
  2. Denmark (7.586)
  3. Iceland (7.530)
  4. Israel (7.473)
  5. Netherlands (7.403)
  6. Sweden (7.395)
  7. Norway (7.315)
  8. Switzerland (7.240)
  9. Luxembourg (7.228)
  10. New Zealand (7.123)
  11. Austria (7.097)
  12. Australia (7.095)
  13. Canada (6.961)
  14. Ireland (6.911)
  15. United States (6.894
  16. Germany (6.892)
  17. Belgium (6.959)
  18. Czechia (6.845)
  19. United Kingdom (6.796)
  20. Lithuania (6.763)