The French stayed just one year in the club of the 20 happiest peoples, within a UN-backed ranking. Without falling down.
A little tour of the top 20 happiest countries in the world, and off we go. France was downgraded in the 2023 edition of the World Happiness Report, a United Nations-backed ranking that measures happiness levels among residents of 147 countries. After climbing to 20th place in the previous edition, the best result since the survey was created, the French population has moved up to 21st place this year.
Slight decline
France’s Total Happiness Score, which was determined on the basis of declarative surveys and indicators such as GDP per capita or life expectancy in good health, has therefore fallen slightly over the sum of the three years 2020-2022 compared to 2019-2021. However, this decline is limited and accounts for only 0.02 points.
The loss of 20th place is mostly related to the significant rise of Lithuania, which climbed 14 places in one year to climb to the bottom of the field in the top 20.
France also ranks 10th among the countries where happiness levels are most unequal between the happiest 50% and the unhappiest 50%.
Northern European countries still at the top
The top 3 happiest countries in the world remain unchanged from 2022: Finland has indeed retained its first place for the sixth year in a row, followed by Denmark and Iceland.
Then Israel rises to 4th place (+5 places), followed by other European countries that are used to being among the “happiest in the world”: the Netherlands (5th), Sweden (6th), Norway (7th and 8th). ), Switzerland (8th) and Luxembourg (9th) occupy a top 10, which is completed by New Zealand.
The top 30 countries in the World Happiness Ranking, based on a three-year average 2020-2022. – World Happiness Report 2023
The top-ranked countries share similar characteristics: high healthy life expectancy and GDP per capita, low levels of corruption, considerable generosity in a community where people help each other, and freedom for everyone, important ones making decisions about his own life.
“The Nordic countries have the highest levels of prosperity, although they are not wealthier than many other countries. But they have higher levels of trust, mutual respect and mutual aid,” the report states.
At the bottom of the ranking are Lebanon and Afghanistan, which stand out with particularly low “happiness” values, even in comparison to the countries that are directly ahead of them in the ranking.
More generally, most countries have seen greater levels of generosity and mutual aid in the context of the 2020 pandemic. So much so that global goodwill levels have increased by 25% in 2020-2022 compared to the years before the health crisis. Levels rose for most of 2020 before stabilizing in subsequent years.
Russia happier than Ukraine
Ukraine and Russia, which have been at war since February 2022, have paradoxically moved up the rankings, taking six places for first and ten for second. A development that can be seen in tandem with increased confidence in their respective leaders, but is much more important in Ukraine. However, the Russians remain happier on average (70th place) than the Ukrainians (92nd).
“Despite the extent of suffering and damage in Ukraine, life estimates remained higher in September 2022 than after the 2014 annexation, now underpinned by a greater sense of shared purpose, caring and trust in Ukraine’s leadership,” the report says out of.
This world ranking of luck was created in 2012. Experts working on this data believe that the criteria and measures will become finer and more nuanced over time as countries adopt the same methods of making the measurements. They also believe that happiness is increasingly becoming a priority for heads of state.