Last year, marked by the coronavirus pandemic, brought an unprecedented death toll and increased levels of insecurity, the new World Happiness Report (World Happiness Report) but this indicates that the pandemic has not paralyzed the spirit of the community. Although emotions changed in the second year of the pandemic, long-term life satisfaction was less affected by the infection than expected.

The annual World Happiness Report attempts to objectify the concept of happiness using six criteria. The authors compared 146 countries from around the world according to per capita gross domestic product, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom of choice in life, philanthropy (measured through charitable giving), and perceptions of corruption in government and business. Two additional criteria, taking into account the rates of positive and negative recent events, also appear in the rankings.

Generosity in the midst of crisis

One of the key findings from the latest happiness rankings is an increase in levels of social generosity. According to John Helliwell, there was an increase in all three components reflecting the level of generosity in the community – the willingness to donate funds to charity, helping foreigners, and the level of volunteerism. The global average of these three parameters jumped by about 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

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Not surprisingly, European countries topped the rankings – they became the happiest countries in the world for the fifth time in a row Finlandfollowed by Denmark and Iceland. The Czechs maintained 18th place last year, followed by the United States and Great Britain. In addition to European countries, Israel (9), New Zealand (10), Australia (12), Canada (15) and the United States (16) made it into the TOP 20. At opposite poles of the rankings are Afghanistan, Lebanon and Zimbabwe .