The 2019 World Happiness Report was just unveiled and, once again, Northern European nations prove that they are out in front in cracking the happiness code, with eight of the top 10 happiest nations hailing from the region: 1) Finland, 2) Denmark, 3) Norway, 4) Iceland, 5) Netherlands, 6) Switzerland, 7) Sweden, and 10) Austria. New Zealand and Canada took the #8 and #9 spots. The report ranks nations on six core happiness measures: income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.
It’s packed with fascinating findings. One, negative feelings (anxiety, sadness, anger) are rising worldwide, up 27 percent from 2010–2018, and the report analyzes the “sad state of happiness in the United States,” hit hard with an “epidemic of addictions.” Two, since 2007, happiness inequality (the gap between the happy and unhappy) has been rising within countries, a worrying trend especially pronounced in Latin America, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
