These are the happiest countries in the world – What is the position of Greece?

THE Finland and the Iceland are the happiest countries in the world with Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in the last places, according to the annual UN World Happiness Report 2021.

The Covid-19 pandemic killed more than 2.6 million people worldwide and led to a massive upheaval, changing the way people live, the way they think about life.

Despite the catastrophic events of the last 12 months and the consequent deterioration of people’s mental health, there has been no change at the top of the rankings with the happiest countries in the world.

For the fourth year, Finland topped the annual Gallup World Poll list, with Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands in second, third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

The World Happiness Report 2021 has been written slightly differently this time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Not only were the researchers unable to complete in-person interviews in some countries, but they also had to change things entirely by focusing on the relationship between prosperity and Covid-19.

The report was mainly based on data, GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and income from corruption since it was published in 2012.

Although there have been some changes in the top ten, with Iceland moving up two places from fourth to second and Norway falling from fifth to eighth, the standings were strikingly similar to last year for the most part. which is considered a positive sign.

“Suddenly, there was no reduction in prosperity on average when measured by how people value their lives,” said John Heligwell, a professor at the University of British Columbia who co-authored the report.

One possible explanation is that people see Covid-19 as a common, external threat that affects everyone and this has created a greater sense of solidarity and a sense of companionship.

Other notable moves on the list include Germany, which has risen from 17th to seventh place in the last year.

Croatia, which was among the countries where personal interviews could be conducted, rose from 79th to 23rd on the list.

Answers to two types of questions were asked: One concerns life in general, the evaluation of life. “How is your life going?” she was the first. The other concerns mood, emotions, stress, Jeffrey Sachs, an economist and author of the report, explained, according to CNN. “Of course, we are still in the middle of a deep crisis. “But the answers to the long-term evaluation of life have not changed decisively, even though the turmoil in our lives has been so profound,” he said.

The report, published by the United Nations Solution Network for Sustainable Development, found that there was astonishing resilience in how people value their lives as a whole. The worst impact of the pandemic was the over two million deaths and there was greater financial insecurity, stress, disruption in every aspect of life, including, for many people, stress and mental and physical health challenges. Emotions changed more than life satisfaction in the first year of Covid-19, worsened during the lockdown and recovered faster.

The happiest countries in the world 2021

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Switzerland
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Germany
8. Norway
9. New Zealand
10. Austria
11. Israel
12. Australia
13. Ireland
14. USA
15. Canada
16. Czech republic
17. Belgium
18. United Kingdom
19. China
20. France

Greece rose to 51st place this year, while Cyprus is 32nd.

“We found that in 2020 the same six factors that contribute to prosperity (income, health, someone we can count on, freedom, generosity and trust) continue to be just as important as in previous years. “People have not traveled the world, but many have rediscovered their neighborhoods,” the report concludes.

Respondents over the age of 60 in 2020 were much less likely than in previous years to report having health problems, despite the fact that the age group is more at risk than Covid-19. It was also the group whose rates increased in terms of support from someone in trouble, suggesting that, at least for those over 60, neighbors and Zoom calls replaced face-to-face contacts that were put on hold.

We looked for differences, say the authors of the report, by gender and age. We did not find significant differences between the sexes, as in the global sample, women maintained their advantage in life satisfaction and the higher frequency of both positive and negative emotions.

The well-being of people over 60 has increased significantly compared to the middle-aged group, while in some countries, but not in the global sample as a whole, young people have lost their advantage.

“In the World Happiness Report 2020 we found that people with a high level of social and institutional trust were happier than those who lived in less trustworthy and creditworthy environments. “The benefits of enhanced trust have been particularly great for those in difficult circumstances, such as poor health, unemployment, low incomes, discrimination and unsafe roads,” the report said.

The best strategy, as the report shows, for a country is to reduce coronavirus transmission to the community to zero and keep it there, thus saving lives and achieving more open societies and economies by the end of 2020. This is likely to make societies happier in 2021 and beyond, the report says.