Newsman: despite the growing uncertainty very much on edge in the world today Devastating loss of life Pandemic has changed the world with new reality. But Benevolence is surging globally, that’s is one of the key findings of the World Happiness Report a publication of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The report looks at happiness around the world — the happiest nations, those at the very bottom of the happiness scale and everything in between, plus the factors that tend to lead to greater happiness.
The global average of the three measures jumped by about 25% in 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels, the report says. And benevolence is certainly top of mind.
Happiness: Towards a holistic approach to development,” adopted by the General” Assembly of the United Nations on 19 July 2011, inviting national governments to “give more importance to happiness and well-being in determining how to achieve and measure social and economic development.”
‘on 28 June 2012, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281, proclaiming 20 March International Day of Happiness to be observed annually. The World Happiness Report is now released every year around March 20th as part of the International Day of Happiness celebration
Marking its 10th anniversary, the findings by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network are based on global survey data from people in about 150 countries.
Two years of Covid-19 pandemic data on the books, the report has uncovered something unexpected.
COVID-19 has also demonstrated the crucial importance of trust for human well-being. Deaths from COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021 have been markedly lower in those countries with higher trust in public institutions and where inequality is lower.
Although the World Happiness Reports are based on a wide variety of data, the most important source has always been the Gallup World Poll, unique in its range and comparability of global annual surveys.
The surveys this year’s happiness rankings were based on were conducted well before the invasion. Ukraine and Russia both fall into the bottom half of world rankings for happiness in the 2022 report, with Ukraine at No. 98 and Russia at No. 80.
At No. 146, Afghanistan is at the very bottom of the rankings in the 2022 report, “a stark reminder of the material and immaterial damage that war does to its many victims,” Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, one of the report editor, said in a news release.
The current war raging in Ukraine means happiness in other parts of the world could teeter as well.
World’s happiest nation
Finland is the world’s happiest country for the fifth year in a row, according to World Happiness Report rankings based largely on life evaluations from the Gallup World Poll.
The Nordic country and its neighbors Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland all score very well on the measures the report uses to explain its findings: healthy life expectancy, GDP per capita, social support in times of trouble, low corruption and high social trust, generosity in a community where people look after each other and freedom to make key life decisions.
Denmark comes in at No. 2 in this year’s rankings, followed by Iceland at No. 3. Sweden and Norway are seventh and eighth, respectively.
Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg take places 4 through 6, with Israel coming in at No. 9 and New Zealand rounding out the top 10.
Canada (No. 15), the United States (No. 16) and the United Kingdom (No. 17) all made it into the top 20.
Happiness in troubled times
One of the focus factors in this year’s report: Worry and stress dipped in the pandemic’s second year. While they were still up 4% in 2021 versus pre-pandemic, worry and stress in 2020 were up by 8%.
Average life evaluations “have remained remarkably resilient” during the pandemic, with negative and positive influences offsetting each other, the report says.
“For the young, life satisfaction has fallen, while for those over 60, it has risen — with little overall change,” according to the report.
The world’s happiest countries, 2022 edition
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Netherlands
6. Luxembourg
7. Sweden
8. Norway
9. Israel
10. New Zealand
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Ireland
14. Germany
15. Canada
16. United States
17. United Kingdom
18. Czechia (Czech Republic)
19. Belgium
20. France
