What does it take to be happy?

The Nordic countries seem to have it all figured out. The United Nations has released its 10th annual World Happiness Report and for the fifth year in a row, Finland was crowned the happiest country in the world, with Denmark coming in second, followed by Iceland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

The report has slightly shifted its focus looking more towards the pandemic and effects of the past two years of how people have coped. However, regardless of those changes, Finland still kept its first place. The authors said the reason could be because Finland has always ranked high on social support in times of trouble.

According to Jeff Sachs, co-creator of the World Happiness Report and a professor at Columbia University said, “When researchers talk about happiness, they’re referring to satisfaction with the way one’s life is going.” It’s not necessarily a measure of how often people laugh or smile, but rather how one feels about their life.

Every year, a group of happiness experts from around the world rank 156 countries based on how “happy” people are according to six areas of life satisfaction: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, the freedom to make life choices, generosity, and absence of corruption.

Nordic countries may have rounded out the top five continuously, but there is one particular country that’s coming along—the United States. Last year, the US ranked 19th, now the country ranks as the 16th happiest country in the world. The US now ranks higher than countries like the United Kingdom, Belgium, and France.

According to the report, the world is entering the third year of the pandemic and has three areas of focus in 2022: Looking back, looking at how countries are doing in terms of COVID-19, and looking ahead to how the science of well-being is likely to evolve in the future. The outcome is, the world is experiencing long-term stress, worry, and sadness as well as a decline in the enjoyment of life. However, average life evaluations, which take into account the net difference of negative and positive influences, have remained “remarkably resilient during Covid-19.”

The good news is, this year’s report found a “remarkable worldwide growth” in three acts of kindness monitored by the Gallup World Poll, which was helping strangers, volunteering, and making donations. Collectively, the global average of the three actions was up by 25%, compared with pre-pandemic times.

The data for the report was gathered particularly prior to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Authors mentioned global happiness will depend on the course of the pandemic and military conflict for future circumstances. The report says, “The pandemic brought not only pain and suffering but also an increase in social support and benevolence. As we battle the ills of disease and war, it is essential to remember the universal desire for happiness and the capacity of individuals to rally to each other’s support in times of great need.”

Here are the countries who ranked top 10:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. The Netherlands
6. Luxembourg
7. Sweden
8. Norway
9. Israel
10. New Zealand