Finland is the happiest country in the world, Italy in 28th place

For the fourth consecutive year, the Finland occupies first place in the ranking of the “happiest country in the world”. Italy remained in 28th place; Brazil in 35th.

This edition of the report, in addition to traditional research, also focused on effects of Covid on people’s quality of life and how governments have managed to react to the pandemic. 

And to keep Finland at the top of the podium – led by 35-year-old Sanna Marin since December 2019 – mutual trust between the people and the government's ability to fight Covid contributed. 

O 2021 World Happiness Report, sponsored by the United Nations, was launched this Friday (20), the day Helsinki decided to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine despite the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). 

The Nordic countries are at the top of the table: in second place is Denmark, followed by Switzerland, Iceland and the Netherlands. 

Italy ranks 28th in the ranking of the happiest country in the world, preceded by Spain. Germany is 13th, the UK is 17th, the US is 19th and France is 21st. Brazil occupies 35th place. Lastly, Afghanistan.

The report, conducted since 2012, is based primarily on Gallup polls conducted over the past three years, which ask citizens of different countries what their level of happiness, crossed with the GPD and assessments of the level of solidarity, individual freedom, health e corruption, to reach a score of ten points. 

Read also Italy is one of the best countries to raise a child, says ranking

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“There has been a surprising resilience in the way people evaluate their lives in general,” explains the report, which provided two classifications: the usual one based on the average of three years of research and another focused only on 2020 to understand the effect of the epidemic. 

The responses in the period 2017-2019 in relation to 2020 varied considerably between countries, but not enough to change the rankings that confirmed the top positions and also the Italian one.

When evaluating only the year 2020, Italy jumps from 28th to 25th place. Brazil drops from 29th place to 41st in the ranking of the happiest country in the world.

See the complete list of the happiest countries in the world – 2018-2020

1. Finland (7.842)
2. Denmark (7.620)
3. Switzerland (7.571)
4. Iceland (7.554)
5. Netherlands (7.464)
6. Norway (7.392)
7. Sweden (7.363)
8. Luxembourg (7.324) *
9. New Zealand (7.277)
10. Austria (7.268)
11. Australia (7.183)
12. Israel (7.157)
13. Germany (7.155)
14. Canada (7.103)
15. Ireland (7.085)
16. Costa Rica (7.069)*
17. United Kingdom (7.064)
18. Czech Republic (6.965)
19. United States (6.951)
20. Belgium (6.834)
21. France (6.690)
22. Bahrain (6.647)
23. Malta (6.602)
24. Taiwan Province of China (6.584)
25. United Arab Emirates (6.561)
26. Saudi Arabia (6.494)
27. Spain (6.491)
28. Italy (6.483)
29. Slovenia (6.461)
30. Guatemala (6.435) *
31. Uruguay (6.431)
32. Singapore (6.377) *
33. Kosovo (6.372)
34. Slovakia (6.331)
35. Brasil (6.330)
36. Mexico (6.317)
37. Jamaica (6.309) *
38. Lithuania (6.255)
39. Cyprus (6.223)
40. Estonia (6.189)
41. Panama (6.180) *
42. Uzbekistan (6.179) *
43. Chile (6.172)
44. Poland (6.166)
45. Kazakhstan (6.152)
46. Romania (6.140) *
47. Kuwait (6.106) *
48. Serbia (6.078)
49. El Salvador (6.061)
50. Mauritius (6.049)
51. Latvia (6.032)
52. Colombia (6.012)
53. Hungary (5,992)
54. Thailand (5,985)
55. Nicaragua (5.972) *
56. Japan (5,940)
57. Argentina (5.929)
58. Portugal (5.929)
59. Honduras (5.919) *
60. Croatia (5.882)
61. Philippines (5,880)
62. South Korea (5,845)
63. Peru (5.840)*
64. Bosnia and Herzegovina (5.813)
65. Moldova (5.766)
66. Ecuador (5.764)
67. Kyrgyzstan (5.744)
68. Greece (5.723)
69. Bolivia (5.716)
70. Mongolia (5.677)
71. Paraguay (5.653) *
72. Montenegrin (5.581)
73. Dominican Republic (5.545)
74. Northern Cyprus (5.536) *
75. Belarus (5.534) *
76. Russia (5.477)
77. Hong Kong SAR of China (5.477)
78. Tajikistan (5.466)
79. Vietnam (5,411) *
80. Libya (5.410) *
81. Malaysia (5.384) *
82. Indonesian (5.345) *
83. Congo (Brazzaville) (5.342) *
84. China (5.339)
85. Ivory Coast (5.306)
86. Armenia (5.283) *
87. Nepal (5.269) *
88. Bulgaria (5.266)
89. Maldives (5.198) *
90. Azerbaijan (5.171) *
91. Cameroon (5.142)
92. Senegal (5.132) *
93. Albania (5.117)
94. North Macedonia (5.101)
95. Ghana (5.088)
96. Niger (5.074) *
97. Turkmenistan (5.066) *
98. Gambia (5.051) *
99. Benin (5.045)
100. Laos (5.030)
101. Bangladesh (5.025)
102. Guinea (4.984) *
103. South Africa (4.956)
104. Türkiye (4.948)
105. Pakistan (4.934) *
106. Morocco (4.918)
107. Venezuela (4.892)
108. Georgia (4.891)
109. Algeria (4.887) *
110. Ukraine (4.875)
111. Iraq (4.854)
112. Gabon (4.852) *
113. Burkina Faso (4.834) *
114. Cambodia (4.830)
115. Mozambique (4.794) *
116. Nigeria (4.759)
117. Mali (4.723) *
118. Iran (4.721)
119. Uganda (4.636)
120. Liberia (4.625) *
121. Kenya (4.607)
122. Tunisia (4.596)
123. Lebanon (4.584) *
124. Namibia (4.574)
125. Palestinian Territories (4.517) *
126. Myanmar (4.426)
127. Jordans (4.395)
128. Chad (4.355) *
129. Sri Lanka (4.325) *
130. Swaziland (4.308) *
131. Comoros (4.289) *
132. Egypt (4.283)
133. Ethiopia (4.275)
134. Mauritania (4.227) *
135. Madagascar (4.208) *
136. Togo (4.107) *
137. Zambia (4.073)
138. Sierra Leone (3.849) *
139. India (3.819)
140. Burundi (3,775) *
141. Yemen (3.658) *
142. Tanzania (3,623) *
143. Haiti (3,615) *
144. Malawi (3.600) *
145. Lesotho (3.512) *
146. Botswana (3.467) *
147. Rwanda (3.415) *
148. Zimbabwe (3.145)
149. Afghanistan (2.523) *

Note: Those with * do not have research information in 2020. Averages were used