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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to c/world@lemmy.world

Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.

Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.

Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness —the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.

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[-] Revan343@lemmy.ca 204 points 1 week ago
[-] ours@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)
[-] Krik@lemmy.dbzer0.com 175 points 1 week ago

Can relate. Am I secretly a Finlandian?

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[-] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 118 points 1 week ago

Here's an old Finnish joke:

Why are people in Finland the happiest people on Earth?
Because all the sad people have killed themselves.

[-] obstbert@feddit.org 17 points 1 week ago
[-] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 85 points 1 week ago

It is like being a Nazi does not make you happy. Imagine that.

[-] Embargo@lemm.ee 72 points 1 week ago

I dunno, man. Israel being 8th is pretty fucked up.

[-] LNRDrone@sopuli.xyz 25 points 1 week ago

Maybe it's more of a oh shit I have to appear happy with everything or the Israel gestapo will get me kind of thing. The human element on these things means there's always some amount of bending the truth or out right bullshit in the data they use for this.

[-] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

If you had a territory where you could sort mostly the wealthy people into one "country" and mostly the poor people into another "country", you could make one really happy and one really sad country.

[-] prole 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm sure if they counted the Arab population in the calculation, it would be much lower.

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[-] arakhis_@feddit.org 82 points 1 week ago

“Happiness isn’t just about wealth or growth — it’s about trust, connection and knowing people have your back,” said Jon Clifton, the CEO of Gallup. “If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other.”

Damn that was very well said

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 32 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Going out without worrying about getting robbed, killed, eating food that's gonna upset your tummy because someone neglected health regulations, slipping on a turd on the sidewalk someone deliberately didn't clean up after their dog, overpaying for stuff, getting fucked by the government (be it taxes, inflation, stupid rules).

Yet politicians getting paid in cold hard cash for approving overpriced shit so some wealthy fuck can fill his pockets even more.

We could constructing a Dyson sphere if it wasn't for fuckers that siphon the money that could be used to improve everyone's life.

[-] Ragnor@feddit.dk 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Well, the taxes we have here in Denmark are quite high. We either have the fourth highest rate of tax compared to GDP or the highest, depending on which source you go by. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_tax_revenue_to_GDP_ratio

The thing is just that taxes means that the money gets spent directly on improving the lives of the people who live here, instead of people having to buy stuff like health care through companies that skim off the top, and who uses the money you pay them to employ people who try to find ways to not help you.

Taxes helps ensure that everything runs efficiently. A healthier population who are more productive, infrastructure that prevents disruptions to business and daily lives alike, and ensuring that people don't have to resort to crime if they lose their job or get ill. Crime is another source of inefficiency that gets significantly reduced.

Everything helps ensure that the average person is in a much better state of mind, and mood is contagious - even those who pay the most benefit off of it, and pretty much everyone here agrees that it's money well spent.

In Danish politics, even the right wing would be considered leftists in the US - we have a lot of political parties (16 in parliament, with 4 of them being from the Faeroe Islands or Greenland).

[-] derpgon@programming.dev 2 points 6 days ago

I'd gladly pay more taxes if it meant improving the wellbeing of overyone. The right (as we called it) would be considered left a decade ago as well (today, not sso much).

So jealous of those whose government isn't a piece of shit good-for-nothing bunch of scum.

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[-] CalipherJones@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

Wealth is just the hoarding of imaginary credits representing the hours of other people's work.

"When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money."

Destruction of our society and pollution of our only Earth for paper strips.

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[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 59 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I don't get how Finland managed to push Denmark to 2nd place?? 🤔
We have way more bacon and beer than they do. 🥓🥓 🍻🍻
Look I even had enough beer and bacon to share it with EVERYBODY on the internet!!

Anyways congrats to our Finish brothers. 👍 😀

[-] random_character_a@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago

🥓🥓Maybe🍻🍻, but we have 🍸vodka🍸 and russian drinking habbits. All the sad people are dead.

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[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 58 points 1 week ago

Back in 1960, the US minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the average US home was $11,000.00

In 'Hell's Angels' Hunter Thompson had a chapter about the economics of being a biker/hippie/artist circa 1970. Six months of a full time Union job as a stevedore paid enough for a biker to hit the road for two years. A part time waitress could afford to support herself and her musician boyfriend.

Of course people were happy here.

[-] CalipherJones@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

You know what hilarious?

There's a sub minimum wage in America for people that earn tips (minimum of 30$ in tips a month), youths, and the disabled.

Sub minimum wage is a whopping 2.13$

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[-] MacStache@sopuli.xyz 53 points 1 week ago

We are the happiest because we don't give a fuck. Today I took my bike to work and slipped on some ice. Hurt my back a bit. What I did was yell "PERKELE!" and just go on my merry way. Work was shit but what can you do.

Best day of my life.

[-] TorJansen@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 week ago

Any culture built on keeping yer yap shut is always bound to have less trouble. My Finn friend just nodded in agreement. Haven't heard him speak a full sentence in years...

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[-] quetzaldilla@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

I love people from Finland.

You are all like seals, letting the bad vibes roll off your back.

Also, always nibbling on fish.

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[-] melfie@lemmings.world 14 points 1 week ago

Must be nice to not worry about injuries bringing financial ruin like in the USA.

[-] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I spent a night in the ER, had some tests done, puked on the CT scan machine, got some meds, and the most expensive part of that trip was the taxi home.

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[-] MacStache@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 week ago

It's great. Universal healthcare is the way to go fellas. US healthcare system is a scam.

[-] afronaut@slrpnk.net 12 points 1 week ago

It’s easy to not give a fuck based on your own material conditions.

Today I took my bike to work

Damn, I have to sit in about 8 hours of traffic per week for a commute to work. Doesn’t leave much time for exercise, you know, like bicycling.

sigh

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[-] rickdg@lemmy.world 48 points 1 week ago

Damn socialists with their happiness. If my neighbour is happy, it makes me mad /s

[-] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

conservatives: "Socialism Bad!"

"Then why are socialist countries like Norway and Finland (and many similar countries) having a higher quality of life?"

conservatives: "That's not Socialism!"

"Great, why don't we switch to whatever that system is?"

conservatives: "😡😡😡"

[-] prole 22 points 1 week ago

You joke, but this is literally how the average American thinks.

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[-] taiyang@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago

That's what you get when everyone has a sauna.

And yes, many homes have it and one thing my Finnish friend does is sauna up and then jump in the snow. That'll wake you up.

[-] MisterOwl@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago

My paternal grandparents were both Finnish immigrants. Do I have a path to citizenship? Please say yes, I would like to leave the 4th Reich as soon as possible.

[-] ptu@lemm.ee 12 points 1 week ago

There are so few professional-level expatriates that processes are not well formed and bureocracy might hit you, but personally I welcome you here.

[-] HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago

How shitty are things in India when...

[-] allo@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 week ago

meanwhile, in America...

"oooh, unhappiness? how dreadfully monetizeable!"

starts big pharma antidepressants corporation

[-] yarr@feddit.nl 20 points 1 week ago

One of the problems with America is if you ask people on the street who's the happiest country in the world, a good chunk will answer America and not believe this result. I've always said the problem with being #1 (or thinking you are) is that you don't work very hard to improve.

One metric America leads the world in: self-delusion regarding its own performance in every area. How many people say America leads in math, science, health? Don't get me wrong, in a lot of categories the US is top 20, but very few where we actually are #1. Until this attitude is fixed, we're not going to see real improvement. RAH RAH RAH USA #1 is nice to whip up a crowd at a rally, but it's not good for positive ongoing change.

[-] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 week ago

That Pledge of Allegiance shit really worked.

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[-] ouch@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

As a finn, I can confirm I'm the happiest person in the world for the whole week it's sunny and doesn't rain during the summer!

Suomen kesä on kaunis ja vähäluminen.

Also, if you make it through the darkness of November alive, you must have built so much mental resiliency that rest of the year is walk in the park regardless of what happens.

[-] AlienContact2049@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 week ago

The US shot itself in the foot and now it's pointed at it's face.

[-] Azal@pawb.social 17 points 1 week ago

US here.

I'm betting we'll be outright giddy this year compared to next year.

[-] Tja@programming.dev 22 points 1 week ago

I don't think so. Next year being sad will be illegal.

[-] b161 15 points 1 week ago

What you don’t want to live in a Christo-fascist dictatorship with no eggs, and lots of measles, where you get sent to Guantanamo Bay for not retweeting Elon Musk’s or Trump’s latest Nazi rant?

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[-] CalipherJones@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

The dining alone hits. The lack of community is palpable in corporate America.

[-] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

How is Israel even in the top ten? They are truly detached from reality.

[-] Shezzagrad@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago

If you didn't put Israel in top ten, it would be considered anti Semitic

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[-] LNRDrone@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 week ago

I'm convinced Finns have just found a way to troll this somehow. Not that Finland isn't great and all, but it just makes more sense.

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this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
1180 points (100.0% liked)

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