Estonia places 34th in World Happiness Index rankings

HELSINKI – For the seventh year in a row, the world's happiest country is Finland, while Estonia placed 34th on the World Happiness Index, it can be seen from the UN World Happiness Report published on Wednesday.

According to the fresh ratings, Lithuania ranked 19th and Latvia 46th.

Finland was also followed by the Nordic countries -- Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. 

In last place was Afghanistan, where the extremist organization Taliban took power again in 2020.

Significantly, the United States of America and Germany have fallen out of the top 20 for the first time since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012, ranking 23rd and 24th, respectively.

At the same time, Costa Rica and Kuwait rose to the top 20, ranking 12th and 13th, respectively. 

The report stated that the world's largest countries are no longer among the happiest countries. The only countries with over 15 million inhabitants in the top 10 are the Netherlands and Australia.

Among the top 20 are Canada and the United Kingdom with more than 30 million inhabitants.

The researchers who compiled the report asked residents of 143 countries to rate their own happiness, but also took into account measures such as gross domestic product (GDP), social benefits, personal freedoms and the level of corruption.

This year's World Happiness Report is based on the average of surveys conducted in 2021-2023. The first such ranking was compiled in 2012.