this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.

Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.

Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness —the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.

Nation Table

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

I don't get how Finland managed to push Denmark to 2nd place?? 🤔
We have way more bacon and beer than they do. 🥓🥓 🍻🍻
Look I even had enough beer and bacon to share it with EVERYBODY on the internet!!

Anyways congrats to our Finish brothers. 👍 😀

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

My recollection of danish food was, you can have meat you like as long as it came from a pig. Wouldn't surprise me if the beer was similar.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 months ago (1 children)

🥓🥓Maybe🍻🍻, but we have 🍸vodka🍸 and russian drinking habbits. All the sad people are dead.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh so that's the secret, I thought there was something fishy about this, very clever and well played. 😋

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[–] [email protected] 86 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Damn socialists with their happiness. If my neighbour is happy, it makes me mad /s

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 months ago

That's what you get when everyone has a sauna.

And yes, many homes have it and one thing my Finnish friend does is sauna up and then jump in the snow. That'll wake you up.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 183 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Can relate. Am I secretly a Finlandian?

[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Thats hilarious. I love that about finnish people, its a no bullshit country. Say what you mean, do what you say.

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[–] [email protected] 210 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 125 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Here's an old Finnish joke:

Why are people in Finland the happiest people on Earth?
Because all the sad people have killed themselves.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago (3 children)

It sucks that we still have that reputation abroad. We're doing a lot better in that front. Also at least 2019 and 2016 our suicide rate was actually lower than the US, where a lot of these jokes come from (I was pretty surprised)

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I'm convinced Finns have just found a way to troll this somehow. Not that Finland isn't great and all, but it just makes more sense.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

It's easy to be content with life when things are overall pretty good. And Finns typically are happy with fairly little, so we rank high.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

According to the other comments, they ask "How are you?" ans the response is "eVeRyThInG Is gReAt" and this gets written down as a 5/5 on the happiness scale.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)

No, it's because things are all things considered pretty good here, so people say "can't complain". Things overall are pretty good. Some understand happiness as being giddy about life but what this ranking more about is how content you're with your life and when things are overall alright, it's easy to be content.

The happiness thing is misleading since what it means varies a lot culture to culture.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (4 children)

As a Finn, I'd like to remind you this is 50% bullshit.

They go around asking people how they are and in Finnish culture, you're not allowed to complain, and our society sees to it that we give even substance abusers and drunks rent money, so people answer "can't complain".

Finnish people are emotionally stunted and don't even understand the concept of happiness.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I was actually wondering about that. Finland keeps getting this high ranking, so at what point do the Finnish people feel obligated to maintain that reputation when they answer these surveys? For at least a few people, I'd imagine it becomes a small point of pride.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (99 children)

in Finnish culture, you’re not allowed to complain

What a load of shit, people complain openly all the time. Foreigners are even shocked when sometimes we're too frank in answering "how are you doing

and our society sees to it that we give even substance abusers and drunks rent money, so people answer “can’t complain”.

You think the ranking is bs because we realize that things are pretty good here? People say "can't complain" because they are content with what they got and know things could be a lot worse. It's not being emotionally stunted or some other bs, it's the realization that things are pretty good here.

It's funny, every time we do good in something there's loads of these people who rush to say how it's bs and how we actually suck. Now that's the Finnish spirit.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Finnish people are emotionally stunted and don't even understand the concept of happiness.

I half agree with this. There's it's own kind of happiness in being stoic and staying to one self.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 months ago (2 children)

So.. people with addictions are treated as people and provided for, and they 'can't complain' about their overall circumstances. Therefore the Finnish are emotionally stunted? There's a leap of logic here

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

So.. people with addictions are treated as people and provided for,

Definitely not what I said.

You're saying I'm saying A caused B, when I am actually saying that A is a symptom of B.

Want to see the pictures of the cell I was kept in for more than three days without my prescribed meds?

There is no way a majority of the guards / police could've been ignorant of it. Also, they turned off my water for almost a day. Literally crimed against humanity.

I once walked into an ER and after telling them I'm afraid I'll hurt myself or someone else, the on-call psychiatrist told me "don't try to make this my responsibility". Like... my man. That's literally your job description and legal duty.

But here you are, a Finn, I presume, making strawmen, since the only feeling you haven't repressed is anger towards people who actually feel.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 2 months ago (6 children)

As someone who grew up in Finland, I get what they mean. Finns only bitch about things to their inner friend circle (very small circle usually), anyone outside that gets maybe a sarcastic everything's great, especially that thing that's really pissing me off right now kind of response. At the same time pretty much everyone gets treated generally fine and there is great support available for anyone, so it checks out those markers I assume this happiness quiz thing looks for. Why this feels weird for Finns though, is that there's also some widespread deep depression in Finnish culture. From my viewpoint as someone who hasn't lived in Finland for a long time now, I think unlike most other places the source of the depression isn't the system grinding you down, it's more internal than that. Maybe just dealing with the elements and trying to figure out what you want do with your life kind of shit.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Back home we were always joking, that Finland and Hungary are distant cousins in a head to head competition for highest amount of alcohol abuse and suicide.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I was always told that when someone asks how you are you say "Unbelievable!" because it can mean everything and nothing.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I'd agree.

Except I know support isn't actually available. Everyone says it is. But it actually isn't.

You won't get evicted or starve, but battling bureaucracy and being ignored by people will get to your happiness.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I get what you mean, support in laws and numbers is not real solidarity, and therefore not effective nor complete support.

But from an outsider perspective (and i still leave in one of the most "supporting" country i'd say), it's already a big step from our current position to not get evicted or starve.

It's a good thing to know that solving symptoms with money does not solve problems though, but i feel like it remains hard to explain to people that it's not already a big step forward.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I'm not Finnish and I got it. Sounds like my dad who's a bit of a hardass and doesn't like for others to worry. Life is hard, what's complaining going to do? And yeah I'd say he's emotionally stunted and has trouble forming real connections.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Yeah that sounds right on. That's very common attitude/outlook with Finnish men at least. Not sure if the ladies are different or if my sample size just isn't large enough, but the women I know are more open.

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