Finnish journalist Carina Chela tells MailOnline why her location state mightiness not nan happiest spot connected world contempt what a UN-backed study says
It's that clip of nan twelvemonth again: crappy upwind and group sliding astir successful nan Helsinki slush – and nan seemingly inevitable confirmation that Finland is, yet again, nan happiest spot connected nan planet.
For nan seventh twelvemonth successful a row, Finland has landed nan apical spot successful nan yearly World Happiness Report, followed by its bluish neighbours Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden.
The stats supporting this conclusion are based connected the Gallup World Poll covering much than 140 countries.
Nobody is much skeptical than nan Finns astir nan conception that we are nan world’s happiest people.
Yes, we do person speeding fines that are based connected income, and astir apt nan highest attraction of metallic bands successful nan world.
From mean costs to termination rates here's really Finland stacks up to nan UK and nan US. Source OECD
But being nan happiest seems for illustration a spot of an overstatement.
The precocious elected Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, took to nan societal media website X to stock his reasons for nan country’s occurrence – basically, nature, spot and education.
But past he would opportunity that, having a untypically optimistic characteristic and an annoyingly affirmative attack to life and everything.
Begrudgingly, I person to work together pinch him connected these 3 topics, but only to immoderate extent.
We really emotion our estimation for having nan champion acquisition system, but besides let's beryllium large and clear astir nan truth that nan latest PISA results (Program for International Student Assessment) uncover that capacity successful Finland has collapsed moreover though it remains supra average.
A sustainable and beardown economy? Not really.
In little than 3 months Finland has had 2 awesome governmental strikes affecting galore sectors of nan economy, and nan authorities and waste and acquisition unions are still failing to discuss a happy measurement forward.
And let's not hide that Finland utilized to person 1 of nan highest termination rates successful nan world acknowledgment to intoxicant maltreatment and antidepressants.
These days nan termination rates person been halved but it is still somewhat higher than nan EU average.
For immoderate reason, nan Finnish younker are now failing to travel successful nan drunken footsteps of nan erstwhile generations.
Russia's penetration of Ukraine has added to our consciousness of insecurity. We person moreover joined NATO.
The 1340 kilometres agelong separator pinch our annoyingly description ist neighbour is presently closed because nan wise men successful nan Kremlin decided to commencement funnelling migrants to nan border.
It's rather annoying for each nan business adjacent nan separator that depended connected tourism from Russia.
So I would opportunity that Finland is decidedly not among nan unhappiest countries successful nan world, but we still person immoderate activity to do earlier nan mean Pekka would work together pinch nan UN-sponsored happiness report.
However, if and erstwhile Russia loses nan warfare successful Ukraine and is forced to retreat pinch its tail firmly betwixt those wobbly imperialist legs, past we decidedly would really beryllium very happy.
So happy, successful fact, that nan happiness results for nan adjacent decade aliases 2 would beryllium a foregone conclusion.