The authors of the report calculated the Happiness Index as the difference between those who consider themselves happy and those who consider themselves unhappy. As noted in the report, 2020 turned out to be different from previous studies: the impact of the pandemic on people starting to feel less happy is evident.Finland is recognized as the country with the happiest inhabitants, which for the fourth time is at the top of this ranking. The top ten also includes other countries in Northern Europe, as well as Central and Western Europe: Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg and Austria. A non-European country also made the top ten, with New Zealand in ninth place.
A total of 17 states received an index above 7 points; Of these, Costa Rica is the only country that is on the list of developing economies. The United States placed 19th, between the Czech Republic and Belgium.Among the states of -Soviet space, Lithuania (38th place) and Estonia (40th) were named the happiest. They are followed by Moldova (65), Kyrgyzstan (67), Belarus (75) and Russia (76), whose happiness index was the lowest in nine years. Among the countries of the former USSR, Ukraine closes the list taking the 110th position.
Afghanistan is recognized as the most unhappy country. Its neighbors on the list were the African states of Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi.
