Britain beats Spain as the happiest place to live
Spain came in at number 36 in the latest edition of the World Happiness Report
Those of us who believe we’re ‘living the dream’ in sunny Spain may just be kidding ourselves, according to a new international survey, which shows that the UK is actually a much, much happier country.
The ‘World Happiness Report’ has consulted thousands of life-long locals and expats around the globe and compiled a list of the places where people are the most content. And this year, Spain didn’t even make it into the Top 20.
For the seventh year in a row, Finland has come out on top as the happiest place on Earth, while Afghanistan has once again been ranked as the most miserable nation.
While the UK dropped one point in the 2024 rankings, it’s still in 20th place in the global league of more than 140 countries and well ahead of Spain, which came in at number 36.
This year marks the 12th annual World Happiness Report commissioned by the United Nations and as always, it’s based on surveys conducted over the past three years, in which tens of thousands of individuals rated their lives on a scale of 1 to 10. The average score for each country is calculated based on these responses, and a happiness score is given on a scale of zero to 10.
Finland topped the list with a score of 7.74, followed closely by Denmark, which scored 7.58. Iceland came in third, while Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia completed the top ten.
On the other end of the spectrum, war-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon were ranked as the two unhappiest countries, with scores of 1.72 and 2.70, respectively.
One notable trend revealed by the report is the decline in happiness among millennials, who were born between 1980 and 2000. Each year, their happiness scores dropped, whereas baby boomers, born before 1965, reported increasing levels of life satisfaction as they aged.
Experts describe this phenomenon as a concerning pattern of younger people in Western Europe and North America experiencing a ‘mid-life crisis’.
Overall, eight of the ten happiest countries were located in Europe, indicating a strong correlation between socioeconomic factors and general well-being.
Image: Archive
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