Finnish people top happiness study - 14th April 2025

For the eighth year, Finland has come out as the happiest country on earth in the UN's World Happiness Report. The country scores 7.73 out of 10, above its neighbours Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.

The study asks people to score their lives from 0-10 and the results are released once a year on 20th March, International Happiness Day. More than 100,000 people from 140 countries were asked various questions, which ranged from social relationships to feeling safe. There were also questions about having the freedom to make choices, and having trust in politicians.

This year, people were also asked about kindness and it appears that looking after someone makes both sides happier. It's important for people to feel others care in the wider society as well. The study showed that strangers were twice as kind as people had previously thought. This was discovered by 'losing' wallets and seeing how many were returned.

Jeffrey D Sachs, from the UN, explained the importance of "trust, kindness and a social connection" for happiness. This means doing simple things like sharing a meal together.

The report was first published in 2012, with the goal of understanding what makes people happy or miserable. In 2013, the happiest nations were all western and industrialised while nowadays, only 7 are.

This year the USA has dropped to 24th place, which is its lowest ever. Over the last 20 years, there's been an increase of over 50 percent in people eating alone there. Perhaps the time's right for sharing a meal together.