For two years in a row, Finland got the title as the world’s happiest country, based on UN’s report. The 2019 World Happiness Report stated that the Northern Europe country beat other Nordic countries in the top list, and topped the other 155 countries. The report ranks countries based on GDP, freedom, trust, life expectancy and lack of corruption.
Money does not equal happiness, proved by the happiest country
Surprisingly, Finland is not even the wealthiest country in the world. It ranks pretty low on GDP compared to the other Nordic countries. USA has the highest GDP in the world. But they only ranked 19. It is a proof that money does not equal happiness. Worsening health condition, decreasing social trust and trust in government were the reasons.
However, the Moomin country excels in social safety net. Personal freedom and good balance of work and life also scores a big number. They are very strong in generosity. Half of Finns donate regularly. And one third of them do volunteer for charity every month. Finns are teaching the world that helping others is a source of happiness.
Finland economic condition
Based on 2019 Index of Economic Freedom, Finland economy ranks the 20th freest country. The country scores pretty high especially on property rights and government integrity. Actually, Finland has one of the world’s strongest property right protection regimes. It also submits to a lot of international agreements aiming to protect intellectual property. So no wonder the country scores 89.6 point on property rights.
Finland government has a strong tradition for corruption tolerance. With a minimum number of corruption, they are one of the most transparent governments in the world. This all leads to 92.5 point of government integrity.
This is a very impressive achievement for a country that is relatively young. Finland had only gained independence by 1917. It was part Sweden and later the Russian Empire. With the export led economy, they have an excellent growth of economy in the past century.
