It’s that time of year again, when World Population Review (WPR) releases its list of the Happiest Countries in the World. And for 2025 — in fact, for the tenth year in a row — the winner is . . . FINLAND!

And having experienced it firsthand — though not since 2009 — I can understand how it retains its status. It is a glorious place!

I was not surprised to see that the majority of the top ten winners are located in northern European climes. The ten are, in order of scoring: Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia (with New Zealand running a close 11th).

(For the complete list, check out worldpopulationreview.com.)

And where, you may be wondering, are we happy Americans? Well, we only made it to the No. 23 spot. Maybe that’s why Donald Trump is so desperate to claim Canada as the 51st state — it came in at No. 15. (Okay, Canada . . . we hear you cheering.)

Of course, I needed to know how these determinations are made each year, and the WPR is happy to share that information, which I pass along to you in relevant part:

“Happiness rankings are three-year averages. For example, 2023 rankings compile data from 2020-2022, while 2022 rankings compile data from 2019-2021.

“Happiness rankings are determined by analyzing comprehensive Gallup polling data from 149 countries in six particular categories: gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make your own life choices, generosity of the general populations, and perceptions of internal and external corruption levels.”

And when a country lacks sufficient data for one of the three preceding years, the average is based on the two available years.

In order to properly compare each country’s data, the researchers had a bit of fun: they created a fictional country, which they christened “Dystopia,” filled with “the world’s least-happy people.” Dystopia was placed at the lowest value in each of the six categories, and the scores of the real-world countries were measured against this value. All six variables were then blended to create a single combined score for each country.

*. *. *

Now, I don’t know why these reports have been issued each year since 2002, or who first thought to compile them. But I do know that if I were thinking seriously of relocating, I’d be checking out that list . . . and perhaps enrolling in a Finnish language class.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/22/25