Happiest Countries in the World 2021 | CNN Travel

(CNN) – To say that the past year has been a difficult year for people around the world is an understatement.

Not only has the Covid-19 pandemic killed more than 2.6 million people worldwide, it has also created a tremendous upheaval in everyday life for many of us.

But despite the devastating events of the past 12 months and the resulting mental health decline in a number of destinations, nothing has changed when it comes to ranking the happiest country in the world in the first place.

For the fourth consecutive year, Finland tops the annual list based on data from the Gallup World Poll, with Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands in second, third, fourth and fifth place.

As the United States moved up from 18th to 14th place and the United Kingdom dropped from 13th to 18th, Australia retained 12th place.

“We urgently need to learn from Covid-19,” said co-editor Jeffrey Sachs, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University.

“The pandemic reminds us of our global environmental threats, the urgent need to work together and the difficulties of working together in every country and worldwide.”

Movers and shakers

Not only were researchers in a number of countries unable to complete face-to-face interviews, they also had to make the switch altogether by focusing on the relationship between wellness and Covid-19.

Since its launch in 2012, the report has mainly been based on the level of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and income from corruption.

While there have been some changes in the top 10, with Iceland rising two places from fourth to second on the list and Norway falling from fifth to eighth, the ranking was strikingly similar to the previous year, as seen as a positive sign.

“Surprisingly, there was on average no decline in well-being as measured by their own evaluation of their lives,” said University of British Columbia Professor John Helliwell, who also contributed to the report.

“One possible explanation is that people see Covid-19 as a common outside threat affecting everyone and that this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and compassion.”

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

Croatia, one of the destinations for face-to-face interviews, rose from number 79 to 23 on the list.

Confidence factor

Researchers say it’s no surprise that Finland has once again retained the top spot, as the Scandinavian country always ranks high when it comes to mutual trust.

Trust is recognized as one of the most important factors that contributed to protecting people during the pandemic, as well as trust in governments.

For example, the death rate in Brazil was significantly higher than that in Singapore, a fact that the report attributes in part to the difference in public confidence in each country’s governments.

It also notes that America and Europe had far more Covid-19 fatalities than East Asia, Australasia and Africa.

The report suggests that the mean age of a country’s population, whether island, and proximity to other highly infected countries contributed to the inequality between death rates worldwide.

Intriguingly, cultural differences, such as whether the head of government was a woman, is also cited as important considerations in measuring the success of Covid-19 strategies, along with income inequality and knowledge gained from past epidemics.

“The East Asian experience shows that strict government policies not only effectively control Covid-19, but also mitigate the negative impact of daily infections on people’s happiness,” said Professor Shun Wang of the Korea Development Institute.

Covid impact on wellbeing

As a result, the report found that mental health deterioration was immediate in many countries, including the UK, where the number of mental health problems reported in May 2020 was 47% higher than predicted before Covid-19.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 2021 World Happiness Report also found that lockdowns and social distances had a huge impact on the well-being of the workforce.

According to the data collected, those who were unable to work due to leave or dismissal who said they were lonely at the start of the pandemic became 43% less happy than those who did not feel lonely at first.

“My previous research showed that happy employees are 13% more productive,” said Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford, another contributor to the report.

“This paper proves that happiness is not determined by reward, and that social connections and sense of identity are more important.

“These findings point to a ‘hybrid’ future of work, balancing office life and working from home to maintain social connections while ensuring flexibility for employees.”

Of the 149 countries cited in the report, Afghanistan was again the most unhappy, followed by Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Botswana.

Those at the bottom of the list were mainly underdeveloped countries where issues such as political and armed conflict are, or have been recently, common.

“This was a very challenging year, but the initial data also shows some remarkable signs of resilience to feelings of social belonging and life evaluations,” said Simon Fraser University professor Lara Aknin, contributing to the report.

Happiest Countries in the World 2021

1. Finland

2. Iceland

3. Denmark

4. Switzerland

5. The Netherlands

6. Sweden

7. Germany

8. Norway

9. New Zealand

10. Austria

11. Israel

12. Australia

13. Ireland

14. United States

15. Canada

16. Czech Republic

17. Belgium

18. United Kingdom

19. China

20. France