The annual World Happiness Report is now out, and for the fifth year in a row, Finland has been deemed the Happiest Place on Earth. Sorry, Disneyland.
The ranking, which compiles survey data from more than 150 countries around the world, ranked Finland’s Nordic neighbor Denmark in second place — a repeat silver medal — and Iceland ranked third.
Austria, Australia, and Ireland rounded out the top 5. For the record, the U.S. made it to the top 20, at #16.
The least happy nation on earth, according to the poll, likely is not a surprise: #146, Afghanistan. Decades of war, and a new Taliban government, tend to put a damper on that joie de vivre.
However, even if you don’t live in the happiest nation on the planet, perhaps take comfort in some of the report’s other findings — for example, since the pandemic began, people have been kinder to each other. “We found during 2021 remarkable worldwide growth in all three acts of kindness monitored in the Gallup World Poll,” the report’s authors noted. “Helping strangers, volunteering, and donations in 2021 were strongly up in every part of the world, reaching levels almost 25% above their pre-pandemic prevalence.”
They conclude, “This surge of benevolence…provides powerful evidence that people respond to help others in need, creating in the process more happiness for the beneficiaries…and better lives for themselves.”
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.