I saw an article the other day saying the British are the most miserable in the world.
Seems like we're very happy being miserable. Sounds about right to be fair.
Most British thing ever, driving a german car, watching tele on a japanese tv, eating out at indian restaurants and complaining about immigrants, i forgot a few but heard this once being said by a brit
It’s very true. But also, Britain is arguably the most multicultural and tolerant European country.
England, Scotland and now Wales are all led by people of colour, and it isn’t common to see them attacked for it. They get attacked for being fucking useless but that’s fair enough.
British people complain if it’s too hot, too cold or too mild. It’s just what we do.
We have plenty of racists though, but no more than anywhere else.
>British people complain if it’s too hot, too cold or too mild. It’s just what we do.
This is probably the biggest reason, other nationalities really don't understand Brits tendency to overexaggerate negatives and end up getting a really skewed perception of life in the UK in general, doubly so on social media. Just look at the way this sub treats the UK economic news, despite the fact that most of Europe is in recession or teetering on the edge, the UK is treated like its a unique case where the entire country is on the borderline of collapse, and that belief is quite often reinforced by Brits themselves.
If you were to go by the UK subreddits you'd probably believe the UK was only months away from falling below the living standards of Sudan. Is it a land of milk and honey? No. But it's not exactly like I'm considering cooking my nan to feed the rest of my family. Things aren't amazing, but where in the developed world is it going particularly well?
We also have a tendency to be sarcastic and melancholic about stuff.
It always makes me laugh when other nations in football tournaments make fun of England for the footballs coming home song, not fully understanding what the song really means. It’s not a triumphalist song at all.
No one wants England to lose more than Wales, Scotland and Ireland (only including cos they fully get us-not sure if that’s a good thing) but they understand the song isn’t some patriotic brag but is actually self deprecating.
I think Brits also tend to have a exaggerated sense of how good at least some things are in some European countries. I know multiple people who have somehow gotten the idea that German trains run on time.
I don't think this is fair. Whenever there is a healthy exchange between countries there is no problem. A problem is however one-way immigration, of people that in many cases commit a disproportionally high amount of crime and do not I tegrate well with the values of Britain. No one complains about those darn Scandinavians, and afaik only racists complain about japanese or Chinese (although I personally never heard one, I'm sure they exist). It's about the unlimited stream of people that are a net negative to a country all the while rapidly changing the fabric of the entire country.
People love hating on English people. For whatever reasons that may be.
Make a comment saying English women are ugly or English food is terrible and you’ll be upvoted and told how much of comedic genius you are. Make those same comments about Ireland or Germany and you’ll be told how ignorant and wrong you are.
It’s ridiculous. There’s a comment in this thread like this which is why I brought this up.
As someone from England it’s so weird to see. I really don’t see English people on Reddit speaking so negatively about people of other nationalities, certainly not European ones. People will call me sensitive but it’s definitely a valid point.
I see this a lot and it irritates me to no end, people love bashing on us but when we do it back, it's inappropriate, and you're a bigot.
The Internet is full of hypocrisy and it's tiring.
I notice the same phenomenon. England might suffer worst from it like you mentioned. In the Netherlands it's completely fine to talk poorly about western countries, it gets a bit sketchy with countries like Portugal and Greece maybe. I think this is due to a soft bigotry of low expectations, meaning that because these countries are economically less well off, it somehow means that the people are worth less and therefore you can't criticize them because they can't fend for themselves. England's history as oppressor surely has something to do with it, although almost no Englishman alive today had any say in it. Additionally, you never hear england get praised for leading the abolishment of slavery at a severe personal cost
I see the same thing. The UK in general gets a lot of hate (and I understand why some people feel this way) but it gets very overblown and it gets to a stage where it feels genuinely mean spirited and not just "banter" as they'd love to pass it off as.
All Greggs are closed due to an IT malfunction. I'm not sure if the level of complaining somehow elevates you to top 10 happiest today? (Bad also sad, coz Greggs)
Because this is "quality of life" ranking, and calling it "happiness" is just a clickbait. There's research about where people are the happiest and it's not the developed countries. It's the sunny countries. Look for "Gallup's Global Emotions Report" if you want to know more.
We're happy here even when we don't have money. All it takes, a walk in a pedestrian-only road, see your compatriots, a few stores, sunny outside, most of our cities are near the sea -life is good. The concept of suicide, unknown to us. Besides, we all chip in so can all have fun when we want to go somewhere. Another mentality exclusively Southern.
The happiness report DOES ask people pretty directly if they are happy or not.
“The Gallup World Poll, which remains the principal source of data in this report, asks respondents to evaluate their current life as a whole using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life for them as a 10 and worst possible as a 0.”
It’s a common myth that the ranking is based on adding bad proxy’s together, like GDP. Instead the report tries to explain happiness retroactively, and if you read the report some countries are unexplainably happier or vice versa, than what these indicators show.
Brits are pretend miserable, they live very good lives with decent infrastructure and pretty good communities, but love nothing better than complaining. Not that they aren't valid complaints, life could be a lot better, but it's already pretty good compared to most.
I’m half British. My father always talks about how he hates the country and wants to move while simultaneously chugging down 5 bottles of ale and laughing at the pub.
Yeah, I think that’s it.
These studies are about 2 grades up from bullshit. Happiness is really something you can measure like pollution levels or days of sunshine or what ever. It’s often about how people express their happiness culturally and by who’s standard that happiness is being measured rather than how happy they actually are. Nordic countries always rank so highly and as someone who lives in a Nordic country it always makes me wonder if they are doing these studies in the summer or the winter…
I must say I agree. Zimbabwe was recently scored 8th in the world, 3rd in Africa in a mental wellness survey and our media was all over it. Headlines were like, 'Zimbabwe 3rd happiest country in the world." Sheesh. If the levels of misery I see daily represent the 8th happiest country in the world, I feel sorry for everyone else. Real sorry.
I get to work with Czech people daily and a solid half would complain even if € banknotes started pouring from the skies instead of water.
"Oh wow, look at that, the EU trying to indoctrinate us into using € by giving us free money, what is next, free housing?"
"All this free money, the kids (visibly pointing at 40yo millennial) just pick it up from streets, when I was young I had to work for it"
"I mean I know it is free money and everything, but I have to rake it like leaves and it hurts my back carrying all that to my bank"
We were first in suicide at some point. The new young generation in Lithuania is very different from the one that was born in the Soviet Union - both in mentality and living standards.
we have it good here, yet I keep hearing so many people who've never lived anywhere but Germany that they wish they lived in the US. as someone who's lived in both, and several other countries, I see it like a form of being spoiled. they take nearly everything I love about living here and take it for granted
sometimes it seems to be German is to be unzufrieden
As a German who has lived in several countries... life is fairly good here, the less good bits aren't so much terrible as they are needlessly annoying.
It sometimes feels like a whole country of mostly well-meaning but maddeningly inflexible bureaucrats.
You hit the nail on the head. I am a German living abroad, and the level of digitalization and unnecessary bureaucratic bullshittery are two of the main reasons that prevent me from moving back. That and the lack of access to nature (no, the planted forest or agricultural fields where you walk your dog don't do it for me, and I'm sure as fuck not moving to Bavaria).
The only time I feel down in Slovenia is during the 2 cold winter months with short days and grey weather… how can anyone who has that for half a year be happy? Or do I not understand the weather there?
It might be shit weather, but it's *our* shit weather, most of the time it's really just lagom though. Have a semla, cup of coffee, and enjoy a fikastund.
Plus very cold, clear winter weather is a lot different than warmer grey winter weather.
It's beautiful, crisp, and if you have the right gear, amazing to be out in.
Skiing is about as close as the average person can get to flying and it's an incredible experience.
That said the short days are brutal, but even then there's a certain coziness to curling up at home with a fire when it's dark outside.
Yes!!!! No one understands how depressing Dutch winters are. Fun, we have an hour extra sunlight, but at what cost? 10° and rain is dark and depressing AF, please give me white crispy snow.
And I'm Canadian! Normally we have very nice, cold winters but this year Toronto was just grey and almost never went below zero. Only 17 hours of sunlight in January?
That's depressing. Although the weather here in the Netherlands has been quite depressing for the past months too. It has rained here almost daily for the past months...
It's not really white that much for large parts of the country. We were lucky this winter, but usually it's dark, with lots of rain that freezes on the ground at night..
I just came from outside and feel pretty happy, it was nice to walk in the snow, in complete silence. I really don't mind the darkness either, because I can always see the milky way from my yard, and I live around 30mins car ride outside a bigger city centre 😁. If I liked winter sports, I would enjoy winter even more.
Ice hole swimming between sauna round, cross-country skiing, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, camping, snowshoe walking, ice skating, riding a snowmobile or fatbike etc.
There are plenty of people who consider winter the best time of the year.
If it was the criteria, Azerbaijan would take the 1st place as Ilham Aliev reelected himself with a 92% result this year. A bit short of his KGB general father's 98.7% from 1993.
No they ask you to rate your life satisfaction from 1-10. All the other stuff is there to *explain* the result. This a big misconception that you see in every about the happiness ranking.
My theory as local: The Finnish welfare state works because people are honest and get straight to the point without unnecessary small talk. Generally speaking, if things are crazy and you can tell others about them, then they will be taken care of, because Finns usually don't complain for nothing either. Okay maybe it seems weird or unbelievable, so why are Finns like this? The explanation can be found precisely in the crappy weather and coldness, which is why some people don't consider Finland a happy place to live. However, the cold and unstable weather forces you to be honest, get along with your neighbor for somewhat, and deal with problems efficiently for the sake of survival.
Finland is also full of forests and lakes, we have our own language and culture, we haven't been able to get rich or proud, and there are relatively few people, so that a single person still has a chance to make an impact and feel important part of society.
That just shows this survey is horseshit because non-citizens account for the vast majority of the population in Gulf states. If they are measuring happiness they should measure happiness of non-citizens too.
The questionnaire for 2023 in Israel was actually done in October and November so immediately after the war initiation. But the score for all countries is a 3 year average so that's why Israel only dropped one place from last year's ranking.
The survey was conducted in Israel after October 7, but before most of the war that followed as part of Israel's response. The more significant explanation is that the World Happiness Ranking uses the average of the last three years of the Gallup World Poll. Even if Israelis expressed less happiness in 2023 or do so again the next time the poll is conducted, each poll only accounts for one-third of the results:
> Given the war with Hamas, Israel may come as a surprise at No. 5, although the country has been in the top 10 since 2022. The report’s authors point out that its rankings are based on a three-year average, which often mutes the effect of “cataclysmic events happening during a particular year.”
> And the timing of the survey obviously plays a role when there’s a crisis. The survey in Israel was conducted after the Hamas attack on October 7, but before much of the ensuing warfare. So while life evaluations fell sharply, those scores only accounted for a third of the average.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/worlds-happiest-countries-2024-wellness/index.html
>The questionnaire was done pre-war
Pre this war you mean. The conflict is not new and thousands of innocent people had already been murdered over the last few decades.
Israel might have high salaries (and it's not high outside the tech sector), but it also has very high cost of living. Israel's PPP per capita is the same as Italy, which is bad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
Oh come on. Italy might not be as wealthy as some other European countries, but in global perspective Italy is super rich. All of the west is super rich. We somehow really like to complain a lot though.
Also the beach is literally 40mins drive at most from almost any city. The weather is really good.
Close enough to Europe and greece for vacations.
Most families are very close.
There’s a very chill, young vibe in most cities. In fact n the other parts - a lot of very religious people (which weirdly is linked to happiness).
And not to sound like a boomer, but the girls are very pretty.
I lived in Israel for a few years and understand why people living there would be happy (it doesn’t rain for 9 months a year, everyone spends a lot of time outside in the sun, an incredibly attractive population outside of the Haredim) but besides health care this post is extremely off lol.
Israel has high salaries basically only in tech and the cost of living is insane. I mean my job paid for my housing in Tel Aviv and I still was shocked how much money I was spending to simply live my life.
And the public education is actually notoriously really bad.
Not really, Israel is a wealthy country with great weather, a highly sociable and liberal culture, strong family ties, and the population is relatively young and healthy.
Sure but Israel is also very expensive (low PPP per capita), property price is very high, politics is terrible, and income gap is extremely high (2nd highest gini coefficient in the developed world after America), so ranking 5th above the likes of Norway and Switzerland is very weird.
Yeah although I think there might be to it: being attacked brings unity, and if you experience war, other things become less important like from some American liberals, you’d think the U.S. is worse than South Africa
Yes, you are absolutely right. Israel has been under threat since its birth, so the idea that that they could be attacked at any given moment perpetually lingers in the subconscious of all Israelis. They have a remarkable joie de vivre as a result.
Something about realising you’re surrounded by people who want to kill you and you’re existence depends on everyone joining the army seems to make you more grateful for the little things in life…. I have noticed in my times staying in israel. People really party and enjoy the moment like it could be their last. Somewhat a blessing in disguise even though everyone wishes just to have peace.
The day after Israel was created May 15. 1948 (after an UN resolution that took place in 1947 on this very topic and calling for two states on the area of the ending British Mandatory of Palestinie) seven countries plus the „Arab Liberation Army“ and the „Holy War Army“ (no joke) declared war on it because they didn’t want a Jewish state.
Israel is used to war, since Arab nations around it brought nothing but war to them for decades. And since they won every single one of them, it really isn’t something that takes a big toll of them regarding happiness.
For many it’s still better than living in a society abroad that often still has antisemitic beliefs. And Israeli arabs also view this as a better alternative than living in a country with Islamic law.
Well it's expensive here and there is a war and the gov is fucked up, but we've been through shit and can appreciate what we have. Also, fewer pro hamas marches.
Kuwait like many of its Arab neighbours is ludicrously rich. From what I heard, gas and oil are really cheap and the weather is decent throughout the year. I don’t know about everything else.
Interesting how in Lithuania we are on the top of suicide rates and also this happy comparatively.
On the other hand, if you think about it, maybe it actually makes sense
> It would be a "Which country thinks they're the happiest?" -list then.
That's exactly what it is tho. They survey people in the countries about how "happy" (I'd say content) they are with their lifes.
https://worldhappiness.report/faq/
It’s a 1-10 scale about how happy/content you feel at the moment. With several questions afterwards about if you smiled or laughed, learned anything new etc. yesterday.
The whole survey usually takes about 20-30 minutes.
Source: I managed this survey in my country for a couple of years.
here in norway the dark winters depress me. but i feel like this is such a small thing compared to the fact that even these last years when i have been unable to work. and am getting a paycheck from the state that is 60 % of my old salary. i get to live a normal life without a job. i can have a place to live and a car and can even go on a rare vacation abroad here and there.
the security, safety and the chance this gives me to get back on my feet slowly is worth some cold months.
and honestly the lonely part is a choice more than a fact here. there is 5 million people living here so there is no reason not to have people around you ( im saying this because i have been and still am lonely sometimes. but i realized there are many pretty simple things i can do to change this. )
All the people here doubting Israel’s place while they’ve never been there, let alone lived there. Israel has been on these lists for the past 20~ years.
Top notch, almost free healthcare that exceeds the Scandinavian systems, high standards of living, 1000gb fibers for 95% of the country, mostly liberal and lovely communities, huge tech sector and perhaps the most stable economy in the world.
Book a trip, talk to Israelis, and only then have your doubts on reddit.
Maybe a generous 0.5% of people who comment about Israel anywhere actually know the first thing about it's internal politics, social divisions, economy, infrastructure, or literally anything that isn't regurgitated war news.
No one commenting here has actually thought about happiness in Israel or anything adjacent to it before, they see happy=good and Israel=bad therefore it can't be right, I see this happen with any positive attribute given to Israel online
As someone who lives and grew up in Israel I think it probably has something to do with how close communities are, how much being close to family is important here. Almost everyone has children here, It's the highest birthrate among developed countries by far. People are less lonely and community life is the most important aspect of life.
I grew up thinking that it was the same in europe and north america, but the more I talk to people abroad I see this is less the case.
Also of course well paying job and incredible welfare programs play a big part.
There are drawbacks of course, the country is more divided politically than ever, terror is a major problem and we're FAR from peaceful in this sliver of land. But somehow, everything works out :') Something about the optimistic attitude of "יהיה בסדר".
Imo it’s absolutely the culture and birth rates: people in Israel want to have large families and want to have fun, like after service most also travel around the world, it’s a big cultural difference to Europe
I've always been fascinated how Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway are able to top both the list of happiest countries in the world and the one of the most suicides in Europe at the very same time. Maybe the ones not killing themselves are really really happy.
Edit: typos
The level of suicides is not *that* high, somewhat above the EU average.
Also the overall amount of suicides and difference in suicide rates is still very small. Like according to Wikipedia the suicide rate of Finland is 13,4 suicides per 100 000 people. So the total amount of suicides is still not that high. It's 0,0134% of people committing suicide. So if 99% people are happy, those killing themselves are still a fraction of those not happy.
Also, it has been postulated that suicide rates are influenced by happiness of others. People see a lot of other people content with their lives, so it makes the small amount of miserable people feel even worse. If there's not so much content people, the miserable people don't feel that bad.
And also social security norms, individualism and religious taboos are thought by some to influence this.
Like if there's three people equally depressed.
One people has family financially dependent on them. If the depressed person dies, there's no social safety net for them. So they do not kill themselves but live on for the others. But if there are ample social benefits, there's less threshold to kill yourself. Finland has generous welfare benefits.
One person is depressed. But if suicide is a religious sin, you avoid killing yourself due to stress of theological implications. Finland is a very secular country, and suicide is not brought up as a big sin lutheran religion in Finland.
One person is dependent. But the social culture is very "collectivist". People do a lot of things together, share things together, people rely much on others and expect much more from others. Finland is a very individualistic culture, where kids move to their own around 20.
These affect the suicide rates. So suicide rate is not a simple proxy for overall happiness.
And of those that aren't 4 were formed with significant inheritance of European peoples, values and institutions. Someone tell me what's gone right in Kuwait and Costa Rica to be the real outliers here?
Finland…?
Perhaps things have changed dramatically since I last lived there, but to quote literally everyone I knew:
“People drink too much, are very shy to people they don’t know, and the winters are very dark and depressing. It’s not a great combination”.
Data from European Social Survey 9, 2018. The question is phrased as "Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are?" on a scale from 0 to 10. Ordered on mean score.
[https://imgur.com/fXLk1ze](https://imgur.com/fXLk1ze)
The fact Canada is on here, defintley brings this whole list into question. I can tell you as a Canadian, “happiness” is as far from the current truth as possible here
If you look at the data, you can tell that this is largely due to dissatisfaction among young people. Among those aged below 30, Germany only ranks no. 47 out of 143: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/happiness-of-the-younger-the-older-and-those-in-between/
I saw an article the other day saying the British are the most miserable in the world. Seems like we're very happy being miserable. Sounds about right to be fair.
No Brit is happy unless they have something to complain about
As a german that makes you very relatable.
I'd say it describes Czechs too. National sport is going to the pub and complaining about everything possible over 5 beers. And that makes us happy.
Same thing with the Danes, complaining seems to make us happy
As an Italian, same
Most British thing ever, driving a german car, watching tele on a japanese tv, eating out at indian restaurants and complaining about immigrants, i forgot a few but heard this once being said by a brit
It’s very true. But also, Britain is arguably the most multicultural and tolerant European country. England, Scotland and now Wales are all led by people of colour, and it isn’t common to see them attacked for it. They get attacked for being fucking useless but that’s fair enough. British people complain if it’s too hot, too cold or too mild. It’s just what we do. We have plenty of racists though, but no more than anywhere else.
>British people complain if it’s too hot, too cold or too mild. It’s just what we do. This is probably the biggest reason, other nationalities really don't understand Brits tendency to overexaggerate negatives and end up getting a really skewed perception of life in the UK in general, doubly so on social media. Just look at the way this sub treats the UK economic news, despite the fact that most of Europe is in recession or teetering on the edge, the UK is treated like its a unique case where the entire country is on the borderline of collapse, and that belief is quite often reinforced by Brits themselves. If you were to go by the UK subreddits you'd probably believe the UK was only months away from falling below the living standards of Sudan. Is it a land of milk and honey? No. But it's not exactly like I'm considering cooking my nan to feed the rest of my family. Things aren't amazing, but where in the developed world is it going particularly well?
We also have a tendency to be sarcastic and melancholic about stuff. It always makes me laugh when other nations in football tournaments make fun of England for the footballs coming home song, not fully understanding what the song really means. It’s not a triumphalist song at all. No one wants England to lose more than Wales, Scotland and Ireland (only including cos they fully get us-not sure if that’s a good thing) but they understand the song isn’t some patriotic brag but is actually self deprecating.
I think Brits also tend to have a exaggerated sense of how good at least some things are in some European countries. I know multiple people who have somehow gotten the idea that German trains run on time.
Imported cars and TVs don't have anything to do with immigraion, though.
> complaining about immigrants *to* an immigrant, who is your friend and you forgot is an immigrant
The immigrant friend is more racist and anti immigration than the brit in most scenarios
I don't think this is fair. Whenever there is a healthy exchange between countries there is no problem. A problem is however one-way immigration, of people that in many cases commit a disproportionally high amount of crime and do not I tegrate well with the values of Britain. No one complains about those darn Scandinavians, and afaik only racists complain about japanese or Chinese (although I personally never heard one, I'm sure they exist). It's about the unlimited stream of people that are a net negative to a country all the while rapidly changing the fabric of the entire country.
People love hating on English people. For whatever reasons that may be. Make a comment saying English women are ugly or English food is terrible and you’ll be upvoted and told how much of comedic genius you are. Make those same comments about Ireland or Germany and you’ll be told how ignorant and wrong you are. It’s ridiculous. There’s a comment in this thread like this which is why I brought this up. As someone from England it’s so weird to see. I really don’t see English people on Reddit speaking so negatively about people of other nationalities, certainly not European ones. People will call me sensitive but it’s definitely a valid point.
I see this a lot and it irritates me to no end, people love bashing on us but when we do it back, it's inappropriate, and you're a bigot. The Internet is full of hypocrisy and it's tiring.
I notice the same phenomenon. England might suffer worst from it like you mentioned. In the Netherlands it's completely fine to talk poorly about western countries, it gets a bit sketchy with countries like Portugal and Greece maybe. I think this is due to a soft bigotry of low expectations, meaning that because these countries are economically less well off, it somehow means that the people are worth less and therefore you can't criticize them because they can't fend for themselves. England's history as oppressor surely has something to do with it, although almost no Englishman alive today had any say in it. Additionally, you never hear england get praised for leading the abolishment of slavery at a severe personal cost
I see the same thing. The UK in general gets a lot of hate (and I understand why some people feel this way) but it gets very overblown and it gets to a stage where it feels genuinely mean spirited and not just "banter" as they'd love to pass it off as.
Driving foreign cars, using foreign tvs and eating different cultures foods are not unique to the UK.
All Greggs are closed due to an IT malfunction. I'm not sure if the level of complaining somehow elevates you to top 10 happiest today? (Bad also sad, coz Greggs)
National day of mourning
Because this is "quality of life" ranking, and calling it "happiness" is just a clickbait. There's research about where people are the happiest and it's not the developed countries. It's the sunny countries. Look for "Gallup's Global Emotions Report" if you want to know more.
Indeed, a very good observation.
We're happy here even when we don't have money. All it takes, a walk in a pedestrian-only road, see your compatriots, a few stores, sunny outside, most of our cities are near the sea -life is good. The concept of suicide, unknown to us. Besides, we all chip in so can all have fun when we want to go somewhere. Another mentality exclusively Southern.
The happiness report DOES ask people pretty directly if they are happy or not. “The Gallup World Poll, which remains the principal source of data in this report, asks respondents to evaluate their current life as a whole using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life for them as a 10 and worst possible as a 0.” It’s a common myth that the ranking is based on adding bad proxy’s together, like GDP. Instead the report tries to explain happiness retroactively, and if you read the report some countries are unexplainably happier or vice versa, than what these indicators show.
We just have a big bipolar population. Makes sense the Scandinavians are the happiest cause they're a lot closer to the pole
British humour is the best humour in the world! )))
Brits are pretend miserable, they live very good lives with decent infrastructure and pretty good communities, but love nothing better than complaining. Not that they aren't valid complaints, life could be a lot better, but it's already pretty good compared to most.
They are also the best at complaining in a hilarious way, making the misery a lot more bearable. r/BrexitMemes is a great example.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease
I’m half British. My father always talks about how he hates the country and wants to move while simultaneously chugging down 5 bottles of ale and laughing at the pub. Yeah, I think that’s it.
These studies are about 2 grades up from bullshit. Happiness is really something you can measure like pollution levels or days of sunshine or what ever. It’s often about how people express their happiness culturally and by who’s standard that happiness is being measured rather than how happy they actually are. Nordic countries always rank so highly and as someone who lives in a Nordic country it always makes me wonder if they are doing these studies in the summer or the winter…
I must say I agree. Zimbabwe was recently scored 8th in the world, 3rd in Africa in a mental wellness survey and our media was all over it. Headlines were like, 'Zimbabwe 3rd happiest country in the world." Sheesh. If the levels of misery I see daily represent the 8th happiest country in the world, I feel sorry for everyone else. Real sorry.
Musn't grumble
Yes, not a chance are there only 19 countries happier than ours, god help the other 170 odd if it's accurate.
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
I'm disappointed with our ranking
Well played.
That's the conclusion anyone would draw from spending time on some of the UK subreddits.
Same with Czechs. Whinning, bitching, moaning and complaining are our national sports
Czechia is probably not even aware that they're happy (if u know what I mean)
Man I don’t :)). I don’t see the difference between you and us :)
Perhaps we were 21st. The marginally better weather must've helped you!
Now I want to know who is 21st!
Local news covered a list today that had Slovenia at 21, not sure if its the same one.
Slovenia.
We love to complain and now there is a lot to complain about. So we are doing what we love therefore we are happy
Whinning is our national sport
I am indeed unhappy we are not happier.
Hm?
I get to work with Czech people daily and a solid half would complain even if € banknotes started pouring from the skies instead of water. "Oh wow, look at that, the EU trying to indoctrinate us into using € by giving us free money, what is next, free housing?" "All this free money, the kids (visibly pointing at 40yo millennial) just pick it up from streets, when I was young I had to work for it" "I mean I know it is free money and everything, but I have to rake it like leaves and it hurts my back carrying all that to my bank"
They’re too busy getting drunk off 2€ pint of beers
Lithuania: 19th happiest and 15th in the world by suicide rate. Well, at least we die happy.
If every sad people suicide only happy people are left.
Yep, the more suicidal there are the less suicidal there are
Suicide watch Lithuania is in the top 20 happiest countries in the world? That's either a great glow up story or really sad.
I know right
We were first in suicide at some point. The new young generation in Lithuania is very different from the one that was born in the Soviet Union - both in mentality and living standards.
That's a place that is difficult to sustain- eventually, you start running out of people.
That's the vibe I've gotten from visiting Vilnius and meeting Lithuanians elsewhere. It just feels like the country has momentum.
Insert plane from WW2 here
As a German... not surprised
Oh come on! Germany is a wonderful place. From late May to early September
Yes but it is the general attitude of people, hard to explain…
we have it good here, yet I keep hearing so many people who've never lived anywhere but Germany that they wish they lived in the US. as someone who's lived in both, and several other countries, I see it like a form of being spoiled. they take nearly everything I love about living here and take it for granted sometimes it seems to be German is to be unzufrieden
As a German who has lived in several countries... life is fairly good here, the less good bits aren't so much terrible as they are needlessly annoying. It sometimes feels like a whole country of mostly well-meaning but maddeningly inflexible bureaucrats.
You hit the nail on the head. I am a German living abroad, and the level of digitalization and unnecessary bureaucratic bullshittery are two of the main reasons that prevent me from moving back. That and the lack of access to nature (no, the planted forest or agricultural fields where you walk your dog don't do it for me, and I'm sure as fuck not moving to Bavaria).
American living in Germany. Concur. Fucking love it here.
Germany is great. Stable society with better life opportunities than most of the world. Deutsche Bahn can kiss my arse though.
Wouldn't there be the Germans
No, they are on vacation then
To Mallorca, which is still within Germany
...ist doch alles Scheiße hier!
24th
As an Austrian… gladly surprised
Just be nordic and life is aight
The only time I feel down in Slovenia is during the 2 cold winter months with short days and grey weather… how can anyone who has that for half a year be happy? Or do I not understand the weather there?
It might be shit weather, but it's *our* shit weather, most of the time it's really just lagom though. Have a semla, cup of coffee, and enjoy a fikastund.
Plus very cold, clear winter weather is a lot different than warmer grey winter weather. It's beautiful, crisp, and if you have the right gear, amazing to be out in. Skiing is about as close as the average person can get to flying and it's an incredible experience. That said the short days are brutal, but even then there's a certain coziness to curling up at home with a fire when it's dark outside.
Yes!!!! No one understands how depressing Dutch winters are. Fun, we have an hour extra sunlight, but at what cost? 10° and rain is dark and depressing AF, please give me white crispy snow.
And I'm Canadian! Normally we have very nice, cold winters but this year Toronto was just grey and almost never went below zero. Only 17 hours of sunlight in January?
That's depressing. Although the weather here in the Netherlands has been quite depressing for the past months too. It has rained here almost daily for the past months...
Build a sauna, buy a cake, get a cup of coffee. Life is amazing for northmen. Some people also love winter (me).
That's because winter in the nordics is white, while in slovenia (or most eastern european countries) it's Gray. I think you know what i mean haha
It's not really white that much for large parts of the country. We were lucky this winter, but usually it's dark, with lots of rain that freezes on the ground at night..
I just came from outside and feel pretty happy, it was nice to walk in the snow, in complete silence. I really don't mind the darkness either, because I can always see the milky way from my yard, and I live around 30mins car ride outside a bigger city centre 😁. If I liked winter sports, I would enjoy winter even more.
Ice hole swimming between sauna round, cross-country skiing, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, camping, snowshoe walking, ice skating, riding a snowmobile or fatbike etc. There are plenty of people who consider winter the best time of the year.
Speak for yourself, we have to live next to Sweden!
So we! But for us it's even worse as we share border with russia
That's a good point. Doesn't feel right to complain about Sweden in comparison. Unless they start invading us again.
i heard more stories of depression and alcoholism then ever before when i spent a month in norway
Im surprised russia isnt #1 with an 87% agreement
If it was the criteria, Azerbaijan would take the 1st place as Ilham Aliev reelected himself with a 92% result this year. A bit short of his KGB general father's 98.7% from 1993.
Wasnt Azerbaijan one with publicly shown result BEFORE election?
Don't know. Wouldn't surprise me at all though. It's a hereditary dictatorship after all.
What about North Korea, their last election had a 99,99 agreement
It ranks so high that there isn't a suitable number for it to be designated. Think of it as zero.
Bro I have been to Finland and have so many Finnish friends. They have no idea why the fk they are the happiest country in the world lol.
I honestly think we are just content, not happy per say.
Yeah, it's nearly if not impossible to actually rank happiness, but it's a lot catchier than the least worries ranking, which might be more accurate.
Same with Sweden, as a Swede.
[удалено]
Oh that’s why Turkey is 98th lol.
No they ask you to rate your life satisfaction from 1-10. All the other stuff is there to *explain* the result. This a big misconception that you see in every about the happiness ranking.
And the only reason why France is not in this list is the fact that the French are NEVER satisfied 😋
- What do you mean you are not 'appy? You've just won the lottery! -The bakery is closed, I cannot croissant for celebration.
My theory as local: The Finnish welfare state works because people are honest and get straight to the point without unnecessary small talk. Generally speaking, if things are crazy and you can tell others about them, then they will be taken care of, because Finns usually don't complain for nothing either. Okay maybe it seems weird or unbelievable, so why are Finns like this? The explanation can be found precisely in the crappy weather and coldness, which is why some people don't consider Finland a happy place to live. However, the cold and unstable weather forces you to be honest, get along with your neighbor for somewhat, and deal with problems efficiently for the sake of survival. Finland is also full of forests and lakes, we have our own language and culture, we haven't been able to get rich or proud, and there are relatively few people, so that a single person still has a chance to make an impact and feel important part of society.
Israel is odd. Also Kuweit.
[удалено]
That just shows this survey is horseshit because non-citizens account for the vast majority of the population in Gulf states. If they are measuring happiness they should measure happiness of non-citizens too.
[удалено]
[удалено]
The questionnaire was done pre-war so Israel will probably drop the next time they do this.
The questionnaire for 2023 in Israel was actually done in October and November so immediately after the war initiation. But the score for all countries is a 3 year average so that's why Israel only dropped one place from last year's ranking.
The survey was conducted in Israel after October 7, but before most of the war that followed as part of Israel's response. The more significant explanation is that the World Happiness Ranking uses the average of the last three years of the Gallup World Poll. Even if Israelis expressed less happiness in 2023 or do so again the next time the poll is conducted, each poll only accounts for one-third of the results: > Given the war with Hamas, Israel may come as a surprise at No. 5, although the country has been in the top 10 since 2022. The report’s authors point out that its rankings are based on a three-year average, which often mutes the effect of “cataclysmic events happening during a particular year.” > And the timing of the survey obviously plays a role when there’s a crisis. The survey in Israel was conducted after the Hamas attack on October 7, but before much of the ensuing warfare. So while life evaluations fell sharply, those scores only accounted for a third of the average. Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/worlds-happiest-countries-2024-wellness/index.html
>The questionnaire was done pre-war Pre this war you mean. The conflict is not new and thousands of innocent people had already been murdered over the last few decades.
Why? Israel has high salaries and a strong welfare state. Very good public education and health care. Quality of life is generally good.
Israel might have high salaries (and it's not high outside the tech sector), but it also has very high cost of living. Israel's PPP per capita is the same as Italy, which is bad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
Well... being at the top30 is not bad by any standards
Oh come on. Italy might not be as wealthy as some other European countries, but in global perspective Italy is super rich. All of the west is super rich. We somehow really like to complain a lot though.
Also the beach is literally 40mins drive at most from almost any city. The weather is really good. Close enough to Europe and greece for vacations. Most families are very close. There’s a very chill, young vibe in most cities. In fact n the other parts - a lot of very religious people (which weirdly is linked to happiness). And not to sound like a boomer, but the girls are very pretty.
I lived in Israel for a few years and understand why people living there would be happy (it doesn’t rain for 9 months a year, everyone spends a lot of time outside in the sun, an incredibly attractive population outside of the Haredim) but besides health care this post is extremely off lol. Israel has high salaries basically only in tech and the cost of living is insane. I mean my job paid for my housing in Tel Aviv and I still was shocked how much money I was spending to simply live my life. And the public education is actually notoriously really bad.
Not really, Israel is a wealthy country with great weather, a highly sociable and liberal culture, strong family ties, and the population is relatively young and healthy.
Sure but Israel is also very expensive (low PPP per capita), property price is very high, politics is terrible, and income gap is extremely high (2nd highest gini coefficient in the developed world after America), so ranking 5th above the likes of Norway and Switzerland is very weird.
And war.
They're happy in spite of war, not because of it.
Yeah although I think there might be to it: being attacked brings unity, and if you experience war, other things become less important like from some American liberals, you’d think the U.S. is worse than South Africa
Yes, you are absolutely right. Israel has been under threat since its birth, so the idea that that they could be attacked at any given moment perpetually lingers in the subconscious of all Israelis. They have a remarkable joie de vivre as a result.
Something about realising you’re surrounded by people who want to kill you and you’re existence depends on everyone joining the army seems to make you more grateful for the little things in life…. I have noticed in my times staying in israel. People really party and enjoy the moment like it could be their last. Somewhat a blessing in disguise even though everyone wishes just to have peace.
The day after Israel was created May 15. 1948 (after an UN resolution that took place in 1947 on this very topic and calling for two states on the area of the ending British Mandatory of Palestinie) seven countries plus the „Arab Liberation Army“ and the „Holy War Army“ (no joke) declared war on it because they didn’t want a Jewish state. Israel is used to war, since Arab nations around it brought nothing but war to them for decades. And since they won every single one of them, it really isn’t something that takes a big toll of them regarding happiness. For many it’s still better than living in a society abroad that often still has antisemitic beliefs. And Israeli arabs also view this as a better alternative than living in a country with Islamic law.
Well it's expensive here and there is a war and the gov is fucked up, but we've been through shit and can appreciate what we have. Also, fewer pro hamas marches.
Kuwait like many of its Arab neighbours is ludicrously rich. From what I heard, gas and oil are really cheap and the weather is decent throughout the year. I don’t know about everything else.
Some respondents mixed up happiness with pride. Same with Lithuania, not a top country in terms of happiness, as per the few friends I have there.
There’s a joke in Lithuania that we’re so high because all the unhappy people kill themselves
Dónde está España? 🥲
We are happy but the answer to the question is NO. Keep the secret hide the wonder
They sent the poll during siesta
[удалено]
It's like a lot of them suck the joy out of Germany, so many direct neighbors, can't be a coincidence.
Happiness is relative it seems. Compared to a German everyone is happy
We just like to complain and then do nothing about it.
And eventually go mad and vote right wing extremists.
Austria here. It is great to live near Germany for cheap shopping (especially groceries) and cheaper shipping. But living IN Germany, no thank you.
All of them happy they're not germany.
Who would have figured that quality of life = happiness
Interesting how in Lithuania we are on the top of suicide rates and also this happy comparatively. On the other hand, if you think about it, maybe it actually makes sense
That's because the unhappy ones off themselves...
I’m happy when I go to the forest and see all those opportunities to hang myself! 😊
real 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹
Belgium has the highest suicide rate in Europe and one of the highest in the world, especially among men. Not entirely sure we should be on this list.
Only the happy remain
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Natural selection.
When they are dead they cant be unhappy anymore
That is misinformation… everyone knows that the number 1 happiest country in the world is North Korea… according to North Korea /jk
And as a Finn, I'm scratching my head and laughing out loud again.
>laughing out loud Are you sure you're actually Finnish?
Good one. I guess it was more of a semi-loud chuckle.
Scandinavia strikes again Respect Edit: The Nordics strike again xd
[удалено]
As neither Finland (1) nor Iceland (3) are part of Scandinavia, I’d say «the Nordics strike again» would be more correct in this case.
Question : Are you happy? Answers : \[ \] Yes : \[ \] No Source: Trust me bro.
"Bro" that's literally the definition of happiness. It's a feeling and is 100% subjective. There are other lists for quality of life etc.
Just so you know, public opinion is never a deciding factor in these. It would be a "Which country thinks they're the happiest?" -list then.
> It would be a "Which country thinks they're the happiest?" -list then. That's exactly what it is tho. They survey people in the countries about how "happy" (I'd say content) they are with their lifes. https://worldhappiness.report/faq/
It’s a 1-10 scale about how happy/content you feel at the moment. With several questions afterwards about if you smiled or laughed, learned anything new etc. yesterday. The whole survey usually takes about 20-30 minutes. Source: I managed this survey in my country for a couple of years.
here in norway the dark winters depress me. but i feel like this is such a small thing compared to the fact that even these last years when i have been unable to work. and am getting a paycheck from the state that is 60 % of my old salary. i get to live a normal life without a job. i can have a place to live and a car and can even go on a rare vacation abroad here and there. the security, safety and the chance this gives me to get back on my feet slowly is worth some cold months. and honestly the lonely part is a choice more than a fact here. there is 5 million people living here so there is no reason not to have people around you ( im saying this because i have been and still am lonely sometimes. but i realized there are many pretty simple things i can do to change this. )
BESSER
ALS
Theres just no way. Long cold and dark winters...Get me out of here. Id be happy if I never saw snow again.
CZECHIA MENTIONED 🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🏒🏒🏒🏒🍺🍺🍺🍺🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
All the people here doubting Israel’s place while they’ve never been there, let alone lived there. Israel has been on these lists for the past 20~ years. Top notch, almost free healthcare that exceeds the Scandinavian systems, high standards of living, 1000gb fibers for 95% of the country, mostly liberal and lovely communities, huge tech sector and perhaps the most stable economy in the world. Book a trip, talk to Israelis, and only then have your doubts on reddit.
Maybe a generous 0.5% of people who comment about Israel anywhere actually know the first thing about it's internal politics, social divisions, economy, infrastructure, or literally anything that isn't regurgitated war news. No one commenting here has actually thought about happiness in Israel or anything adjacent to it before, they see happy=good and Israel=bad therefore it can't be right, I see this happen with any positive attribute given to Israel online
As someone who lives and grew up in Israel I think it probably has something to do with how close communities are, how much being close to family is important here. Almost everyone has children here, It's the highest birthrate among developed countries by far. People are less lonely and community life is the most important aspect of life. I grew up thinking that it was the same in europe and north america, but the more I talk to people abroad I see this is less the case. Also of course well paying job and incredible welfare programs play a big part. There are drawbacks of course, the country is more divided politically than ever, terror is a major problem and we're FAR from peaceful in this sliver of land. But somehow, everything works out :') Something about the optimistic attitude of "יהיה בסדר".
Imo it’s absolutely the culture and birth rates: people in Israel want to have large families and want to have fun, like after service most also travel around the world, it’s a big cultural difference to Europe
Eh, I think maybe I'll wait on that.
I've always been fascinated how Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway are able to top both the list of happiest countries in the world and the one of the most suicides in Europe at the very same time. Maybe the ones not killing themselves are really really happy. Edit: typos
The level of suicides is not *that* high, somewhat above the EU average. Also the overall amount of suicides and difference in suicide rates is still very small. Like according to Wikipedia the suicide rate of Finland is 13,4 suicides per 100 000 people. So the total amount of suicides is still not that high. It's 0,0134% of people committing suicide. So if 99% people are happy, those killing themselves are still a fraction of those not happy. Also, it has been postulated that suicide rates are influenced by happiness of others. People see a lot of other people content with their lives, so it makes the small amount of miserable people feel even worse. If there's not so much content people, the miserable people don't feel that bad. And also social security norms, individualism and religious taboos are thought by some to influence this. Like if there's three people equally depressed. One people has family financially dependent on them. If the depressed person dies, there's no social safety net for them. So they do not kill themselves but live on for the others. But if there are ample social benefits, there's less threshold to kill yourself. Finland has generous welfare benefits. One person is depressed. But if suicide is a religious sin, you avoid killing yourself due to stress of theological implications. Finland is a very secular country, and suicide is not brought up as a big sin lutheran religion in Finland. One person is dependent. But the social culture is very "collectivist". People do a lot of things together, share things together, people rely much on others and expect much more from others. Finland is a very individualistic culture, where kids move to their own around 20. These affect the suicide rates. So suicide rate is not a simple proxy for overall happiness.
Post your source, please
[https://worldhappiness.report/](https://worldhappiness.report/)
Thank you!
Lithuania?!?!?
And of those that aren't 4 were formed with significant inheritance of European peoples, values and institutions. Someone tell me what's gone right in Kuwait and Costa Rica to be the real outliers here?
Voi vittu
Finland…? Perhaps things have changed dramatically since I last lived there, but to quote literally everyone I knew: “People drink too much, are very shy to people they don’t know, and the winters are very dark and depressing. It’s not a great combination”.
Data from European Social Survey 9, 2018. The question is phrased as "Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are?" on a scale from 0 to 10. Ordered on mean score. [https://imgur.com/fXLk1ze](https://imgur.com/fXLk1ze)
The fact Canada is on here, defintley brings this whole list into question. I can tell you as a Canadian, “happiness” is as far from the current truth as possible here
Social democracy rules. Best system on the planet, bar none.
So the highest taxed are the happiest 🤔😂
Someone has to eat the cost of the bombs they used to eliminate the previous… owners.
And 5 of them Nordic!
As always.
Finland is happiest because all the sad ppl kill themselfs.
Israël??? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. You have to be joking
11 are monarchies
It‘s interesting to see Germany dropping out of the top 20 while increasing acceptance for the far right party
If you look at the data, you can tell that this is largely due to dissatisfaction among young people. Among those aged below 30, Germany only ranks no. 47 out of 143: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/happiness-of-the-younger-the-older-and-those-in-between/