- kapochunas
Lithuania Makes the Top 20 Happiest Countries for the First Time
Kauno rotušės aikštė (Kaunas Town Hall Square) around 1900. Town Hall on the right, Šv. Pranciškaus Ksavero (Jėzuitų) bažnyčia, 1720 m. (St. Francis Church) on the left. Mar - Mano darbas, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127174575
Kaunas Town Hall Square today. Subodh Agnihotri/iStockphoto/Getty Images, via CNN
"The World Happiness Report, released March 20, a publication of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, draws on global survey data from people in more than 150 countries. Countries are ranked on happiness based on their average life evaluations over the three preceding years, in this case 2020 to 2022. The judgement factors: healthy life expectancy, GDP per capita, social support, low corruption, generosity in a community where people look after each other and freedom to make key life decisions. March 20 is the International Day of Happiness, a day designated by the United Nations that’s marking its 10th anniversary in 2023.
"While the same countries tend to appear in the top 20 year after year, there’s a new entrant this year: Lithuania. The Baltic nation has been climbing steadily over the past six years from No. 52 in 2017 to No. 20 on the latest list. And the other Baltic countries, Estonia (No. 31) and Latvia (No. 41), have been climbing in the ranks, too.
"The top 20:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Canada
14. Ireland
15. United States
16. Germany
17. Belgium
18. Czech Republic
19. United Kingdom
20. Lithuania