In 2012, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network published the first World Happiness Report. Experts in different fields such as economists, psychologists and survey analysts worked closely together to measure the world’s happiness. The report was originally meant to help institutions and politicians to adapt their strategies to the current happiness level of their countries and to measure their success. It can also, however, be used for travel inspiration: after all, who doesn’t want to travel to particularly happy countries?
World Happiness Report 2017
To determine the world’s happiest country, data for 150 countries is collected and grouped in different categories. These include real GDP per capita, life expectancy, perception of corruption and freedom to make life choices. The countries are then given scores from 0 to 10. Finally, the countries are compared to the fictional nation of Dystopia with a score of 0. This serves as an indicator for regression. For the 2017 report, data from 2014 to 2016 was collected. Overall, the ranking shows that Scandinavian states, in particular, can be regarded the happiest countries in the world. So why not make Oslo or Copenhagen your next holiday destination? If you can’t decide, which one to visit, then don’t worry: There’s a bus taking you directly from Copenhagen to Oslo for less than £15.
Visit the Top 5 happiest countries in the world
1. Norway
Capital: Oslo
Inhabitants: 5,214,890
GDP: 99,665 USD
➠ Buses in Norway
2. Denmark
Capital: Copenhagen
Inhabitants: 5,432,335
GDP: 57,572 USD
➠ Buses in Denmark
3. Iceland
Capital: Reykjavík
Inhabitants: 296,737
GDP: 41,411 USD
➠ Buses in Iceland
4. Switzerland
Capital: Bern
Inhabitants: 7,489,370
GDP: 78,754 USD
➠ Buses in Switzerland
5. Finland
Capital: Helsinki
Inhabitants: 5,223,442
GDP: 47,496 USD
➠ Buses in Finland
In case you were wondering about the UK:
The United Kingdom is currently ranked 19th (6.714). However, there’s been an upwards trend as the UK moved up four spots compared to the last report. The UK scored particularly well in generosity but rather low in the freedom to make life choices.
