Measuring happiness is not an easy task. The 2022 World Happiness Report weighs together a number of factor and declares Finland to be the happiest country in the world – a position the Nordic country has held for 5 consecutive years. It is followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Strong GDP performance
Luxembourg ranks 1st in the world in terms of GDP per capita, which is the individual factor with the strongest influence on the country’s place among the 10 happiest countries in the world. It also ranks 10th for the freedom that inhabitants feel that they have to make life choices, and 12th for life expectancy, among the 146 countries covered by the study.
Luxembourg is in 33rd place for social support (inhabitants’ perception of whether or not they can count on relatives and friends in case of difficulties) and in 34th for generosity, i.e. the proportion of people donating money to charities. In terms of corruption – the only category where a higher score is better than a lower one – Luxembourg ranks 130th.
Photo credit: Tristan Schmurr