Every year, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network by the UN prepares a global happiness survey, asks people from 156 countries to answer a series of questions, and tries to determine the happiest countries in the world. This is a subjective survey as it only calculates how happy citizens of different countries feel. This year, the World Happiness Report 2020 ranked not only countries but also cities for the first time. Together with the Gallup World Poll, Sustainable Development Solutions Network tried to analyze different factors of happiness to make a more precise picture.
The World Happiness Report 2020 is the eighth issue of this global report. For the third year in a row, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world. Moreover, the country’s capital, Helsinki, is the happiest city in the world in terms of the current life evaluation. Isn’t this a reason to book a suitable hotel in Helsinki and try to figure out what makes local people so happy?
Ever since the launch of this yearly report in 2012, only three countries besides Finland have got to the top position. These are Norway (won in 2017), Denmark (won in 2012, 2013, and 2016), and Switzerland (won in 2015). Finland has been holding the leading position since 2018. Over the three years, there has been a modest growth in happiness in Finland. The country’s result is almost not changing. However, Finland is way ahead of its competitors in the top ten.
Denmark is the second happiest country in the world. What is the happiest city in this country? Surprisingly, this is not Copenhagen, which ranked fifth. The city of Aarhus outperformed the Danish capital and scored second. If you want to learn what the city’s secret is, it is time to browse Aarhus hotels. Switzerland has improved its position and jumped from 6th place in 2019 to 3rd. Norway, which was the 3rd last year, fell to 5th place.
Iceland is the fourth happiest country in the world, followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, and New Zealand. All these countries have had only subtle changes in their rankings and are always present in the top ten. Finally, Austria and Luxembourg scored 9th and 10th respectively. Luxembourg is the only “newcomer” in the top 10 the country was in 14th place in 2019. Canada, which was 9th last year, has landed on the 11th place in 2020. Wellington in New Zealand is the third happiest city in the world in terms of current life evaluation. Zurich, Switzerland, scored fourth.