For years, its countries have ranked among the best in many lifestyle indicators. In 2024 (and six years before that), Finland holds the crown of the happiest countries in the world, according to The World Happiness Report. Its other European peers followed, such as Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands.
But if happiness is too simplistic, there are other factors why Europe tops the charts. European nations have also done brilliantly welfare measureswhich examine factors such as social support, life expectancy and generosity.
There’s more: Europeans feel respected and well-rested to varying degrees, indicating an overall higher standard of living and stronger social networks around people, according to the Gallup survey. Global Emotions Report.
The scale varies from country to country: for example, 97% of Portuguese respondents said they felt respected, while this figure fell to 58% in Romania. Meanwhile, 75% of Irish people felt well rested, compared to just 53% in Greece.
Conversely, relatively fewer European countries experienced negative emotions such as anger and pain.
The study compiled 146,000 interviews with people aged 15 and older around the world. The survey asked respondents about times when they smiled, were rested, felt stressed or sad, and more, to gauge whether their overall feelings were positive or negative.
Happiness can be difficult to pin down and often relies on self-assessment rather than quantitative measures. Yet European countries have managed to set an example for the rest of the world.
Europe still faces many of the problems seen in the developed world. unemploymentSluggish economic growth and macroeconomic volatility have had a greater impact on some regions and demographic groups than others. Population ageing is another trend darkening Europe, which could harm the region’s “happiness”.
Age and “they lived happily ever after”
The correlation between age and happiness might be different depending on who you ask.
In rich economies like Norway and Sweden, for example, older generations Young people are much happier than the younger ones. But if you look at young people in Portugal and Greece, they are happier than their older counterparts. Lithuania is ranked as the happiest country in the world for those under 30.
“The relationship between age and happiness is more nuanced than previously thought,” said Ilana Ron Levey, Gallup’s chief executive officer. said Fortune earlier this year.
North America is one of the regions where young people are unhappier than older people, with an epidemic of loneliness affecting young Americans.
Finland is bucking this trend: the country is experiencing a rapidly aging population, while continuing to rank among the happiest countries in the world. Social trust and freedom play an important role, as does a sense of community.
“Both social support and loneliness impact happiness, with social support generally having the greater effect,” according to WHR 2024 the report says“Social interactions contribute to happiness, with effects including increased social support and reduced loneliness.”
With a mental health crisis among young people in generalPerhaps countries, whether or not they have aging economies, should seek to build strong communities in order to keep their people happy.
For now, if there is any source of comfort, it is that the world is “in a better emotional state than it was at the height of the pandemic,” Gallup said in its report.
“Globally, positive emotions returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023,” the group found.
