4. Top 10 Happiest Countries
How is happiness measured?
Happiness can be very subjective. Some people are
happy when it rains, others are happy when the
sun is shining. So how is it measured? Apparently
the people at World Database of Happiness take
into account a number of different things such as
average life expectancy and most importantly the
answer to the following multiple choice question
“How happy are you?” (Although the actual
question has varied a bit throughout the years).
Having all the variables they run it through a
computer and get a number from 1 to 10. The
bigger the number, the happier the country
5. 1. Denmark – 8,2 points
• Just like Sweden, Denmark is a Nordic welfare state with
most of its services free to the citizens. Expect to pay 72%
of your money to the government on the highest income
tax bracket. According to Wikipedia Denmark has the
worlds highest taxes! When buying a car in Denmark one
has to pay 25% VAT to the import price of the vehicle and
then a 180% registration tax on top. That means when a car
sells for $20 000, you have to pay an additional $45 000 as
taxes for the government (total of $65 000). That’s why
people in Denmark ride bikes or use one of the best public
transport systems in the world. Denmark also has 2
autonomous provinces – the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
The latter is over 50 times larger than Denmark but has
about 100 times less people.
6. 2. Switzerland – 8,1 points
• This cheese and chocolate producing land is the world’s
10th richest country. Switzerland’s neutrality helped
their banks to raise some serious cash – for decades it
was possible to open a bank account without having to
identify yourself. Upon opening an account, you were
given a special number that anyone could use to
deposit or withdraw money. This law was later changed
since it attracted illegal money. Switzerland is also one
of the top garbage recyclers in the world (66% to 96%
recyclable materials recycled). They achieve this by
keeping recycling free, but asking money for regular
garbage – thus giving people a financial incentive to
recycle.
7. 3. Austria – 8,0 points
• Austria is the home to the popular energy drink Red Bull.
This country is also one of the few in the world, that allows
legal voting beginning from age 16. Upon turning 18, all
Austrian males have to take part of a 6 month military
service. The country has declared itself formally a neutral
country or a “perpetual neutrality” as they say it, but in
reality it has taken part of various peacekeeping missions
and also took part of the UN sanctions against Iraq. Thanks
to the wide use of wind-, solar- and hydropower Austria
produces around 80% of its energy from renewable
resources. Education is mostly free, with the exception of
an average semester fee of 583 dollars (370 eur) in
universities. As you probably guessed – student loan debts
are not an issue in Austria.
8. 4. Iceland – 7,8 points
• This geologically active country is rich in
volcanoes and geysers (A geyser is a hot spring
that erupts water in certain intervals). Thanks to
geothermal power Iceland gets its electricity and
hot water dirt cheap. There have been occasions
where steel has been shipped for processing from
Australia or Africa and when finished shipped
back to the originating country. Cheap local
energy actually makes this cost effective.
According to the Human Development
Index, Iceland (together with Norway) is the
world’s most developed country.
9. 5. Finland – 7,7 points
This is the country that brought us Nokia – the
worlds largest manufacturer of mobile phones. In
2003 Nokia accounted for about a quarter of
Finland’s exports and in 2006 it generated more
revenue than the entire budget of
Finland. Before starting to make mobile phones
Nokia made (yes, it’s true) rubber boots! Finland
was also home to Simo Häyhä – considered to be
the most deadly sniper through history with 542
kills. According to World Economic Forum Finland
has the most competitive economy in the world.
Plenty to be happy about
10. 6. Australia – 7,7 points
The name “Australia” comes from the Latin word
“Australis”, meaning “Southern”. Australia is
the only country in the world, that consists of
an entire continent. Between 1788 and 1868
the British used Australia as a colony to deport
their convicted criminals – these people are
the predecessors to many of today’s citizens.
Australians are famous for playing rugby and
calling each-other “mates”.
11. 7. Sweden – 7,7 points
• This “welfare state” model is an excellent example of effective national
taxes. Among other things the state provides universal tax-funded
childcare, parental leave, health care, education (including
university), retirement pensions and sick leave. Including value added tax
(VAT – kind of like sales tax), it is possible to pay up to 80% of your income
as taxes. Contrary to popular belief, Swedes are quite OK with their high
taxes – after all it gives them tons of high quality services and they almost
never need to take drastic action like taking quick payday
loans just to make ends meet. In fact, most of the services for the public
are free, so what’s not to be happy about?
• Sweden is also the home of IKEA – the worlds largest furniture store.
IKEA’s founder Ingvar Kampard is famous for being the 7th richest person
in the world (Net worth $31 billion) and driving a 15 year old Volvo station
wagon. It has been claimed that more people read the Ikea catalogue
than the Bible – and that one in ten Europeans have been conceived on
an Ikea bed.
12. 8. Canada – 7,6 points
Many people have no idea that Canada’s head of state is
actually Queen Elizabeth II – the head of the British
Monarchy. This meant that when Britain declared war
on Germany in World War I, Canada was automatically
at war with the soon to be Nazi country. Unlike the
neighboring US, Canada has never cancelled its
relations with Cuba and has declined to take part from
the Iraq War – instead, it has played a leading role in
the United Nations peacekeeping missions and helped
to launch a $1.5 billion initiative to help develop
vaccines that could save millions of people in poor
countries. It seems that happy people make a happy
country!
13. 9. Guatemala – 7,6 points
This Central American country borders with Mexico
in the north and is located between the Pacific
Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This location
makes it a very difficult country to stay happy in –
Guatemala is frequently ravished by hurricanes
and earthquakes that often kill thousands of
people. Main exports of Guatemala include
coffee, sugar and bananas. The latter is probably
why they are so happy – have you ever seen
someone that can stay sad while eating a
banana? 56% of all Guatemalans live in poverty. If
you ask me, they can use the cheap bananas!
14. 10. Luxembourg – 7.6 points
• Living in the worlds richest country inevitably
puts a smile on your face! This small landlocked
European country has an army of 800 people
(yes, 800). They don’t have a navy nor an air force
but together with Belgium they can afford to own
1 military cargo plane. Beat that US!
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records
Luxembourg holds the world record as the
country that consumes most alcohol in the world
per citizen.
15. • Have you visited any of these countries??
• What are your thoughts???
