Scandinavia May Not Be the Happiest Place on Earth After All

Narrow measure of well-being may not measure happiness as well as once thought

Scandinavia is supposed to be home to some of the happiest people in the world, but new research suggests that may not be true, even with beautiful places like the fishing village of Hamnoy in Norway. Kym Ellis/Unsplash

The Nordic countries are consistently ranked as the happiest countries in the world according to World Happiness Reports published since 2012. Because of this, other countries often look to them for guidance when it comes to nurturing the well-being of their people.

However, in our recent study, we found that people living in parts of southern Europe had higher mental well-being than those living in the north.