From Iceland — Icelanders No Longer Happiest In The World

Icelanders No Longer Happiest In The World

Published April 3, 2012

In breaking with a long-standing trend, Icelanders are no longer among the happiest people in the world, but other Scandinavian countries remain in the top of the list.
Year after year, Icelanders have typically ranked among the happiest people on a global scale. But Vísir now reports that a new study conducted by three American economists shows that Icelanders have moved from the top position to 20th place in terms of general happiness.
The Danes are now the happiest people in the world. Regarding other Nordic countries, Finns are in second place, Norwegians are in third place, and Swedes are in seventh.
The least happy people in the world live in Togo, followed by Benin, Sierra Leone and Burundi.
The report authors say that economic strength and stability actually have little to do with a peoples’ happiness. Rather, individual freedom and confidence in the government play key roles. As support for the government is now at an almost record low, the relative unhappiness of Icelanders could be attributed to this.

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