The 2024 World Happiness Report results are in. Once again, the tiny nordic countries of Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway all rank in the top 10. These countries are clearly doing something right. What’s their secret? And what can we learn from the nordic countries about happiness?
It’s fascinating to me to see these small countries top the World Happiness Report rankings year after year. At the same time, as I discussed yesterday on my personal blog, the world’s English-speaking countries continue to fall further down the happiness ranking, especially when it comes to the wellbeing of our young people.
In this year’s World Happiness Report, Finland ranked number one, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden in second, third and fourth place. Norway came in seventh place.
So, What’s Their Secret to Happiness?
As I took some time to ponder the reasons these countries top the happiness rankings year after year, I saw Cristiana’s Saturday post here on Wise & Shine. In Exploring Scandinavian Serenity: Hygge, and Fika, she discussed how these concepts embody the essence of mindfulness, relaxation and connection.
Is that their secret to happiness? These countries are all known for long, cold, dark winters, so we know the weather can’t be the source of their joy.
A little research into how the nordic countries differ from the rest of the world revealed a couple of nuggets.
First, these countries are known for strong social programs. They’re well ahead of the rest of the western world when it comes to pensions, parental leaves, unemployment benefits, and affordable healthcare and education.
Secondly, and likely closely linked to the first point, these countries have low levels of income inequality, although there are signs that could be changing. As I watch the widening gap between the haves and have-nots in our North American society, I have to think we can’t ignore this factor. It’s tough to feel happy when you’re struggling to make ends meet—especially when you see others who have so much.
The thing that struck me the most, though, was something I read in this article from Yahoo News in Australia. Nordic countries have high levels of trust and benevolence. Here in North America, increasing levels of skepticism and cynicism can really erode our happiness and mental wellbeing. Not to mention the divisions this causes between people.
Maybe it’s easy to trust when you feel confident your government—and your fellow citizens—have your best interests at heart. In nordic countries, government policies consistently put people first. That’s an increasingly foreign concept in our capitalistic “me first” society here in North America and many other western regions.
So, what can we learn from all this? Perhaps it’s time for every citizen of a country falling further down on the list to reflect on their personal values and how their governments and workplaces support those values. Maybe we all need to refuse to give in to consumerism and capitalistic values and get back to a simpler, more meaningful, existence as I wrote in my very first post here on Wise & Shine.
In the meantime, a little hygge and fika can’t hurt!
What do you think we can learn from the nordic countries? Drop me a comment below with your thoughts.
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Nordic countries are a mystery to me, I would like to learn more and maybe even visit someday. After all I’m 25 percent Finnish … yet I find a lot of pessimism in my body and mind. I’m on a mission to fix that somehow
Great post! 👍
It seems there’s a lot to learn from the nordic countries.
Thanks Heidi-Marie. Yes, there are a lot of lessons we can learn from them.
Interesting. It doesn’t surprise me, though, that the countries ranking high on the happiness scale have strong, pro-people, social programs within their government. I hate to think of where the U.S. falls on this scale right now.
The U.S. ranked 23rd overall and 62nd for people under 30. Canada did better overall in 15th place, but not much better than the US for the under 30 group. It’s sad that we’re failing our young people. Definitely a sign of who holds the power and sets the policies in North America.
What an interesting observation about “high levels of trust and benevolence.” I love how you weave that in with the other factors but one of the things I like about that one in particular is that we can work on it individually right away! Thanks for a great post, Michelle!
That point was very interesting to me, Wynne. One of the things that worries me about our North American society is the high level of skepticism and mistrust. I think the pandemic magnified that and gave extremists a platform to spew their venom. You make such a great observation about this being something we can work on individually. Like all change, it starts with each of us! Thanks for reading.
I always have found very difficult to believe that Scandinavian countries are ranked among the happiest in the world. Besides the bad weather almost all year long, the too long nights and cold winters, and the too long days in summer, they also have a high rate of suicides, and alcoholism would also be very high if prices would be like in the rest of Europe (definitely cheaper than there – from Helsinki people take the ferry to go to Tallinn to spend cheap weekends getting drunk already on the boat – I have seen it with my eyes). Your analysis made me thought at one guy from Sweden who I met while working in France. He left France quite disappointed above all because he found the French State quite persecutory and mistrustful toward their citizens. Social services, what we call the Welfare State, are excellent also in France. As Italian living in Belgium now, I would say that it’s the same also in these two countries. You are always asked to prove something, you have to go from one office to another, and the amount of red tape you are asked to comply with is really difficult to understand, and accept. I think it’s because States don’t trust their citizens, as my former colleague told me before leaving France. He felt humiliated, that’s what he told me exactly. The humiliation you constantly feel when approaching public services, despite the amount of taxes that you pay is not certainly a good way to build trust. You may get what you ask for finally but what a pain! Or maybe you give up before, exhausted and discouraged.
Thanks Cristiana. The Australian news article I linked in my post did speak to the high suicide rates where there has been an improvement in recent years.
I do think the general levels of mistrust and skepticism wear you down after a while and affect your happiness. These days it’s not just the government, it’s our fellow citizens. There is just so much division.
I like the idea of returning to a simpler lifestyle, perhaps instead of trying to fit more things into our schedules, intentionally slowing down.
I agree, Hamish. I think it would make such a huge difference in our lives if everyone did that.