Friday`s number: 7632...

October 5, 2018

…that is Finland’s happiness ranking score, winner of the 2018 World Happiness Report which is compiled annually by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. What is even more striking: Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, the world’s four happiest nations, all lie entirely in Northern Europe. And taking into account Sweden’s ninth place, the Nordics account for five in the top 10 positions.

What is it that makes the people in these countries so happy? As it can’t be the good weather, due to obvious geographical reasons, it must be something else. Happy nations are those in which the citizens have a healthy balance between longstanding prosperity and social confidence, as the authors of the study point out. With regard to the Nordic countries, this is even more the case than in any other region in the world – as statistically verified. By the way: Although Finland took the lead in this year’s survey, it was Denmark which won the title three years in a row between 2014 and 2016.

At the Nordic Investment Managers Forum in Luxembourg, taking place on 25 October 2018, Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, will share some insights on this topic and what exactly happiness actually means.