Finland was named “the happiest country in the world” today for the fifth consecutive year, while Lebanon and Afghanistan were in the bottom spots. Greece has risen this year to 67th place in the list that includes about 150 countries, from 68th where it was in 2021.

With a score of 7.82 out of 10, the Nordic country of 5.5 million people is ahead of Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, as the first places of the ranking remain the same and are dominated by European countries and especially those of northern Europe.

“The three countries that recorded the largest increase were Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania.  Lebanon, Venezuela, and Afghanistan fell further behind in the rankings, according to the World Happiness Report, an annual United Nations-sponsored study launched ten years ago.

Lebanon, which is rocked by unrest and a severe economic crisis, falls to the penultimate position, with a score of 2.95, behind Zimbabwe and just ahead of Afghanistan, which remains in last place with a score of 2, 40.

The study, which has been published since 2012, mainly uses Gallup polls, in which residents are asked about their personal level of happiness, combined with GDP and assessments of the level of solidarity, individual freedom, and corruption.

Among the other major powers, Brazil is in 38th place (-3), Japan in 54th (+2), while Russia lags behind in 80th place (-4) in this year’s ranking, which was completed before the invasion of Ukraine.

China jumps up 12 places to 72nd, India remains at the bottom half of the rankings (136th) but gained 3 places.

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