Finland  for the fourth consecutive year is rated  "the happiest country in the world", ahead of Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland, in a world ranking of well-being that has been affected in different ways by the pandemic.

Panama comes in a distant 41^st.

Germany ranks 13th, Canada 14th, the United Kingdom 17th, the United States

19th and Spain 27th. Europe monopolizes nine of the top ten places. Costa Rica is the first Latin American country on this list, in 16th place, followed by Uruguay (31st), Brazil (35th), Mexico (36th), Panama 41st) and Chile (43rd), in a list of 149 nations that takes into account data from the last three years.

The 149th country, that is, the most unhappy according to this list, is Afghanistan,

a nation subjected to decades of wars and conflicts.

Happiness, freedom

The authors of the study, sponsored by the United Nations and published since

2012, use polls by the Gallup company that question the interviewees about their

perception of happiness and cross these data with GDP figures, data on individual.

freedom, corruption and others. to arrive at a result.

Comparing this list with others before the pandemic, the study authors found that there has been "a significantly higher frequency of negative emotions" in a third of countries.

But in 22 countries, there is no perceived decline in well-being or in people's

perception of their own lives, sums up John Helliwell, one of the study's authors

"One possible explanation is that people see covid-19 as a common and external

threat that hurts everyone and that has generated a greater sense of solidarity and empathy," said the expert.

Public services and solidarity

Despite long winters and a reputation for being uncommunicative  and lonely, Finland has a high standard of living, well-functioning public services, many forests and lakes, and has very positive rates of solidarity and the fight against  poverty and inequality.

Finland achieved a score of 7.84 out of 10, and for the first time the Netherlands enters the "top 5" by occupying the fifth place in the latest edition of the "World Happiness Report"

Finland is also one of the developed countries with the best balance against covid, as the country has reached high levels "in mutual trust measures that have helped protect lives during the pandemic," according to the study.

For a decade, the European Nordic countries have consistently ranked at the top

of the ranking: before Finland, Norway was the happiness leader in 2017 and Denmark held first place for a long time.