What makes Finland the ‘happiest country in the world’?

The graph demonstrates the strong correlation between these two measures. In general, when income inequality is high, money becomes more important and people are less happy.

Finland also has other characteristics that help people feel happy.

Its public health system is highly decentralized and the private health sector is very small. It is a more effective and efficient alternative than what is adopted in other countries.

Finland’s public transport is cheap and reliable, and the airport in the capital Helsinki is considered the best in Northern Europe.

There is a Finnish proverb that seems appropriate at this point: Onnellysuis on se pika putuwaisuden ja yldalkillaisydan walilla – Happiness is the space between too little and too much.

Finland, Norway and Hungary have similar income inequality, but Finns are happier on average. Why is it happening?

According to the World Inequality Database, the top 10% of people in Finland take home a third (33%) of the country’s total income. In the United Kingdom, the same group earns 36% and in the United States 46%.

It may not seem like a big difference, but the effect on overall happiness is huge. In the most unequal countries, the rest of the population has very little—and the rich fear the most. When a small number of people become very rich, the fear is understandable.

In 2021, a sociology professor said that people in the Nordic countries are happier because they have more reasonable expectations. But that doesn’t explain why Finland differs from Norway in terms of happiness.

All sorts of interpretations are possible, including small nuances of language and culture.

There’s also the question of whether the global poll is starting to introduce its own biases, as Finns now know why they’re answering the question (they still trail second-place Denmark in the latest poll).

But Finland’s egalitarian schools – which allow you to get a good education in any field of study – and its better school policy than Norway – almost all Finns attend a nearby school – are also important.

Likewise, the country’s excellent housing policy, which provides a variety of social housing and allows the rate of homelessness to be low, its health service with waiting times that would envy the rest of the world (sometimes only a few days , even in the worst moments of the pandemic) and many other differences make a difference.

Finland ranks first, second or third on more than 100 global indices of social and economic success – just above Norway – with very little money and almost no oil.

For all this, Finns can be forgiven a little sense of vanity (omahyväisyss)

But if Hungary’s income gap is so close to that of Finland and Norway, what makes Hungary do so poorly?

It can be argued that their political division is also a reason. In 2022, the European Parliament indicated that “Hungary can no longer be considered a fully democratic country”.

Freedom is as important to people as freedom from fear. This may also explain why Turkey and India have lower levels of happiness than one would predict given their levels of economic inequality.

On the other hand, China and South Africa may be somewhat happier with their level of inequality.

South Africa became a democracy in 1994, shortly after the release of Nelson Mandela. Many people still remember the earlier times.

And in China, people don’t fear it because its image is often depicted in the West.

Most countries show levels of happiness (and many indices) that are highly predictable from their levels of inequality. The United Kingdom, for example, is within the expected range as one of the most economically unequal countries in Europe.

The graph above demonstrates that Israel, with the same level of inequality, is slightly happier than it should be by the happiness calculus metric. But it is not clear whether the sample considered in the country includes all groups currently living in the State of Israel. Additionally, the model was used from 2022, before the recent widespread protests in the country.

Another country outside the rankings is Costa Rica. In 2019, the country’s then-president Carlos Alvarado Quezada said:

“Seventy years ago, Costa Rica got rid of its army. So we can do many things. Eight percent of our GDP is invested in education, because we don’t have to spend it on the army. That’s why our strength is human talent, good people.”

What can the people of a country do to be happy?

The most important thing is to elect governments that guarantee the reduction of income inequality in the country. The second aspect is to ensure that its social services such as education, housing and health care are efficient and equitable.

Finally, if you include all people in your survey, analyze your level of freedom and the level of fear of your population.

* Danny Dorling is Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford, England.