Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.
Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.
Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness —the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.
How shitty are things in India when…
Understandable, especially with what’s going on here.
My paternal grandparents were both Finnish immigrants. Do I have a path to citizenship? Please say yes, I would like to leave the 4th Reich as soon as possible.
There are so few professional-level expatriates that processes are not well formed and bureocracy might hit you, but personally I welcome you here.
Oddly enough, our problem is that not enough good people are migrating in. But it’s not trivial: https://www.infofinland.fi/en/moving-to-finland/non-eu-citizens
Shoot, it sounds like they need to be living relatives. Ah well, have a sauna for me sometime. :(
https://www.infofinland.fi/en/moving-to-finland/non-eu-citizens/remigration-to-finland
”If you have Finnish ancestry or a close connection with Finland, you may be granted a residence permit in Finland on this basis. This means that you are considered a returnee (paluumuuttaja). Receiving a residence permit depends on the directness and closeness of your Finnish ancestry. No other reason, such as work or study, is required in order to receive the permit.”
Not an expert but I would imagine grandparents is considered pretty close and direct.
… time to find out how much old paperwork the family has stashed away!
And win the lottery to afford moving costs, but one step at a time.
If you find a job, and move here, you will gain permanent residency in 5-8 years. Jobs are listed here: https://www.workinfinland.com/en/open-jobs/
There is everything listed there.
That’s what you get when everyone has a sauna.
And yes, many homes have it and one thing my Finnish friend does is sauna up and then jump in the snow. That’ll wake you up.
As a Finn, I’d like to remind you this is 50% bullshit.
They go around asking people how they are and in Finnish culture, you’re not allowed to complain, and our society sees to it that we give even substance abusers and drunks rent money, so people answer “can’t complain”.
Finnish people are emotionally stunted and don’t even understand the concept of happiness.
I was actually wondering about that. Finland keeps getting this high ranking, so at what point do the Finnish people feel obligated to maintain that reputation when they answer these surveys? For at least a few people, I’d imagine it becomes a small point of pride.
There’s been actually a huge counter-reaction to this, with people rushing to say how the ranking must be bullshit. I’d imagine that at least outweighs that potential pride effect. It was PISA we used to cherish.
I’m curious about what might have changed. Has there been a quality of life change or a perceptual change?
For the happiness thing, it’s been that way for a long time. i think part of it is just us being terrible at appreciating good news hah. For PISA it’s that our ranking has been dropping so now it’s not cherished but just painful.
So… people with addictions are treated as people and provided for, and they ‘can’t complain’ about their overall circumstances. Therefore the Finnish are emotionally stunted? There’s a leap of logic here
As someone who grew up in Finland, I get what they mean. Finns only bitch about things to their inner friend circle (very small circle usually), anyone outside that gets maybe a sarcastic everything’s great, especially that thing that’s really pissing me off right now kind of response. At the same time pretty much everyone gets treated generally fine and there is great support available for anyone, so it checks out those markers I assume this happiness quiz thing looks for. Why this feels weird for Finns though, is that there’s also some widespread deep depression in Finnish culture. From my viewpoint as someone who hasn’t lived in Finland for a long time now, I think unlike most other places the source of the depression isn’t the system grinding you down, it’s more internal than that. Maybe just dealing with the elements and trying to figure out what you want do with your life kind of shit.
I was always told that when someone asks how you are you say “Unbelievable!” because it can mean everything and nothing.
Back home we were always joking, that Finland and Hungary are distant cousins in a head to head competition for highest amount of alcohol abuse and suicide.
I’d agree.
Except I know support isn’t actually available. Everyone says it is. But it actually isn’t.
You won’t get evicted or starve, but battling bureaucracy and being ignored by people will get to your happiness.
I get what you mean, support in laws and numbers is not real solidarity, and therefore not effective nor complete support.
But from an outsider perspective (and i still leave in one of the most “supporting” country i’d say), it’s already a big step from our current position to not get evicted or starve.
It’s a good thing to know that solving symptoms with money does not solve problems though, but i feel like it remains hard to explain to people that it’s not already a big step forward.
Financially? Sure.
“Getting help when you’re feeling like killing yourself”? Nah.
Like literally I couldn’t get help. The ER doc dismissed me, a crisis center dismissed me, my family dismissed me. Even after the documented seizures and me not getting any fucking help.
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I’m not Finnish and I got it. Sounds like my dad who’s a bit of a hardass and doesn’t like for others to worry. Life is hard, what’s complaining going to do? And yeah I’d say he’s emotionally stunted and has trouble forming real connections.
Yeah that sounds right on. That’s very common attitude/outlook with Finnish men at least. Not sure if the ladies are different or if my sample size just isn’t large enough, but the women I know are more open.
So… people with addictions are treated as people and provided for,
Definitely not what I said.
You’re saying I’m saying A caused B, when I am actually saying that A is a symptom of B.
Want to see the pictures of the cell I was kept in for more than three days without my prescribed meds?
There is no way a majority of the guards / police could’ve been ignorant of it. Also, they turned off my water for almost a day. Literally crimed against humanity.
I once walked into an ER and after telling them I’m afraid I’ll hurt myself or someone else, the on-call psychiatrist told me “don’t try to make this my responsibility”. Like… my man. That’s literally your job description and legal duty.
But here you are, a Finn, I presume, making strawmen, since the only feeling you haven’t repressed is anger towards people who actually feel.
Finnish people are emotionally stunted and don’t even understand the concept of happiness.
I half agree with this. There’s it’s own kind of happiness in being stoic and staying to one self.
in Finnish culture, you’re not allowed to complain
What a load of shit, people complain openly all the time. Foreigners are even shocked when sometimes we’re too frank in answering "how are you doing
and our society sees to it that we give even substance abusers and drunks rent money, so people answer “can’t complain”.
You think the ranking is bs because we realize that things are pretty good here? People say “can’t complain” because they are content with what they got and know things could be a lot worse. It’s not being emotionally stunted or some other bs, it’s the realization that things are pretty good here.
It’s funny, every time we do good in something there’s loads of these people who rush to say how it’s bs and how we actually suck. Now that’s the Finnish spirit.
It’s literally measuring contentedness, not happiness.
Saying “Finland is the happiest country in the world” is akin to those studies which say “one glass of wine gives you the benefits of a half hour at the gym” or smth. Completely misunderstood. Based in reality but strongly exaggerated.
It’s very different being un-discontented vs being “happy”
I agree that the name can be misleading because different people and different cultures view happiness differently. Life is good here, so we are content. But I disagree that we aren’t happy too, we’re just happy with fairly little. Some nice peace and quiet at the summer cabin, good sauna, that’s happiness.
And this isn’t the first time you do this.
I be asserted this several times because I know my shit and what the study is actually about.
You alway come in to deny deny deny deny
EXACTLY the sort of willful ignorance
I’m sorry but I’m not sure what you are talking about here. Are you saying we had this conversation last year?
Honestly.
The lengths you will go to avoid seeing how the system in Finland literally TORTURED me for DAYS and NO-ONE CAN EVEN ACCEPT IT HAPPENED, LIKE YOU.
It’s beyond delusional.
What the fuck are you talking about, I have no idea who you are or what happened to you
Fuck right off with that shit. It’s the exact type of bullshit I’m talking about.
You just refuse to accept any fault in our systems and me criticising the systems which literally made people break my basic human rights and decency. For days without medication, a day without water. Completely fucking psychotic, drawing with my blood on the walls.
And afterwards, no-one wants to admit this happened. Not my family, not lawyers, not anyone.
But I’ve the proof, so…
Fuck your “Finnish dream” it’s a delusion
Nobody is saying the system is perfect, far from it (with people complaining on the reg), just that we have things a lot better than most places. Which makes it easy to be content and even happy. If recognizing that things are good and being happy with fairly little is a delusion, it’s a delusion I’m happy to have, along with a lot of other Finns.
It’s like with the corruption thing, when Finland was #1 people rushed to say how there’s still corruption in Finland. No shit, but it’s a ranking and it’s comparing to other countries. We just have less than most.
which literally made people break my basic human rights and decency. For days without medication, a day without water. Completely fucking psychotic, drawing with my blood on the walls.
And afterwards, no-one wants to admit this happened. Not my family, not lawyers, not anyone.
This sounds pretty personal.
You just won’t believe it.
It’s insane that I have to argue you about a thing existing which you’re giving the perfect textbook demonstration of.
No, it’s not “a lot better tham others [so the fact you got tortured doesn’t mean anything which is why it’s okay for me to. Completely ignore it]”
You’re doing the exact autistic denial bullshit that infects 98% of Finnish population
I mean, on all sorts of quality of life rankings and factors we’re almost always at the top. If there’s such a thing as on objectively good place to live, Finland seems to be one of them. Not sure what you feel like our ranking should be on QoL and what sort of places should rank higher.
If you’re very unhappy with life here then I can understand it being hard to believe that others are genuinely happy to live here. If 98% believe that it just might be that it’s not them who are in denial.
As a finn, I can confirm I’m the happiest person in the world for the whole week it’s sunny and doesn’t rain during the summer!
Suomen kesä on kaunis ja vähäluminen.
Also, if you make it through the darkness of November alive, you must have built so much mental resiliency that rest of the year is walk in the park regardless of what happens.
The dining alone hits. The lack of community is palpable in corporate America.
I am American and can confirm I feel like this.
I’d move back to Europe and live there but I’m too worried about Russia.
Distance will not provide you any additional safety when the nukes start flying anyway. Come back and your last time here with us.
How is Israel even in the top ten? They are truly detached from reality.
Well the Israelis are definitely really happy.
If you didn’t put Israel in top ten, it would be considered anti Semitic
The methodology is flawed.
They do ask people how happy they are, but most of the score is from other factors, like GDP, income equality, personal freedoms, etc.I think you misunderstood how the report works. The rankings are from people answering the poll using cantril ladder scoring. Then academics try to look at different statistics in that country to try to explain why people gave their country that score. The academics don’t score the countries.
It’s definetly a flawed methodology. It implies the certain qualities have the same importance to cultures worldwide. I’m born in Scotland but ethnically Punjabi. I go pakistan and i see extreme poverty and struggle, yet I speak and live with people of different classes and it’s often those who are poor but with community who are happiest (something similar applies to many nations I’ve been) not to say wealth wouldn’t make them happier or live longer, but our current capitalist system is a disease that very very few nations were able to effectively control so that the society benefits (gulf Arabs, Singapore and Nordics) but generally wealth doesn’t make a nation happier unless it’s somewhat fairly distributed
I actually got a call from the survey these are based on. While i dont know how they compile the answers into a score, i felt the questions were quite relevant.
Also, i feel finns score high because we are culturally modest people who enjoy the simple things in life. Are we physiologically experiencing more happiness than others? Maybe not. But we propably score high on measurements of how content people say they are. ”Cant compain”
Serbia winning big with largest increase.
Any Serbians able to weight in on why?
We are the happiest because we don’t give a fuck. Today I took my bike to work and slipped on some ice. Hurt my back a bit. What I did was yell “PERKELE!” and just go on my merry way. Work was shit but what can you do.
Best day of my life.
I love people from Finland.
You are all like seals, letting the bad vibes roll off your back.
Also, always nibbling on fish.
Fish is more of a Norwegian thing, but I’ll allow it.
Must be nice to not worry about injuries bringing financial ruin like in the USA.
It’s great. Universal healthcare is the way to go fellas. US healthcare system is a scam.
I spent a night in the ER, had some tests done, puked on the CT scan machine, got some meds, and the most expensive part of that trip was the taxi home.
I know people that have had to take an Uber instead of an ambulance because of the costs.
sounds like an average Finnish weekend.
It’s easy to not give a fuck based on your own material conditions.
Today I took my bike to work
Damn, I have to sit in about 8 hours of traffic per week for a commute to work. Doesn’t leave much time for exercise, you know, like bicycling.
sigh
The city I live in has the greatest bike lanes in the country. I can bike to work through the year, even in very snowy winter. It’s great.
Oulu?
Any culture built on keeping yer yap shut is always bound to have less trouble. My Finn friend just nodded in agreement. Haven’t heard him speak a full sentence in years…
He sounds like the best friend ever.
One of the problems with America is if you ask people on the street who’s the happiest country in the world, a good chunk will answer America and not believe this result. I’ve always said the problem with being #1 (or thinking you are) is that you don’t work very hard to improve.
One metric America leads the world in: self-delusion regarding its own performance in every area. How many people say America leads in math, science, health? Don’t get me wrong, in a lot of categories the US is top 20, but very few where we actually are #1. Until this attitude is fixed, we’re not going to see real improvement. RAH RAH RAH USA #1 is nice to whip up a crowd at a rally, but it’s not good for positive ongoing change.
This is a helpful way to break down Nationalism vs Patriotism. Nationalism being a delusional belief that we are the best, and Patriotism being a love for your country and fellow citizen and striving to be the best.
That Pledge of Allegiance shit really worked.
