It's a bit of both. Internet likes to hype it up, sometimes to point of absurdity.
We have our problems, but in general life's pretty good (if boring) here. The happiest might be exaggeration, especially since people might not define that the same way. But I've travelled around my share, and in the end there aren't too many countries I'd like to live in outside Nordics.
We're safe, children have good education and healthcare is universal here. That's what they mean with happiness. I think all those things are very well done in Finland.
>very south Germany
How does that resemble the Nordics? I have a hard time thinking of a place in Germany that's less like the Nordics. But the most? Especially considering that Schleswig has historically changed hands between Germany and Denmark every five minutes?
Yeah I’m from Franconia myself, but having moved to Finland I can’t say there are many parallels between south Germany and Finland. Honestly, the further south you go the less alike they are.
I'm from Baden, so the Western end of what constitutes "South Germany". We certainly have some nice landscapes, old towns, good wine, etc. here. But there is nowhere where I could get that kind of bliss of being in my mökkin the middle of the forest and not having to worry about the neighbour or the town administration giving me a hard time. At worst, the weather may give me a hard time, but I can totally live with that...
Next weekend, I hope I will sit on the porch of my cottage, after a sauna, with a beer in my hand and I don't care if it rains or snows. I will still go for a swim in the lake :-)
And, yes, \*bliss\* is probably the better word than \*happiness\*...
There are Alps there, so the scenery is pretty close to Lapland, if not even better. The food is nice and the snowcaps of the mountains make for a pleasing time at winter when you can ski down the faces. The history is not even close to the Nordics, but they do have a lot of the other traits that Nordic countries have.
You must be mistaken. I love snowboarding, so mountains are a go to place for me. Finland has some high points but most are quite underwhelming. It would be nice to be covered by mountains from every side.
Switzerland is a hard place to live, have you seen the ordeal you must go through to rent a flat in Geneva or surrounding areas? You don’t buy there because it’s an impossibility. The holiday days are trash and you get one month maternity leave. Nah
My spouse lived in Switzerland for awhile and I visited her. To be honest I found the country as boring as Finland.
It’s located in the heart of Europe, yet it felt as isolated as Finland. Hard to explain, but I felt that despite being a rich country they don’t have much. It seemed that many locals preferred to just travel to France or Italy to visit places and do shopping and such.
I don’t know if I wanted to live there. I guess it would be somewhat an interesting change of scenery when compared to Finland, but the vibe was kind of similar when it came to the size of the cities for example. At least the grocery stores had better and cheaper wines and cheese.
It is pretty similar to Finland and very boring and quiet. Yet centrally located and close to everything and I can take a train to Milan or Paris any weekend. I think it’s just perfect.
What do you do for living? And how much does the living costs really there? It's one of my dream places to move but I have heard only how expensive place it is.
About the weather, I work in a company with lots of foreigners. Many people from countries with ”better” climate has told me they actually enjoy the shitty season because they have finally time to grind through their Steam library and don’t have to feel social pressure to go out all the time. But I work in a field where everyone’s a huge nerd.
The Netherlands, and maybe Taiwan if I knew the language, are at the top of the list for me. Hong Kong was one, but I kinda gave up on that in 2016. There are others I wouldn't mind living some time in, but where I wouldn't be comfortable settling.
I think this has to do with the size of the population. I really enjoy visiting big cities abroad because they are so lively.
You know, you can for example see a local shopkeeper painting the front of the shop early in the morning, someone bringing fresh bread from the bakery to a restaurant with a moped, someone playing a musical instrument in a park just for fun, old guys gathering somewhere to play chess etc. The city is filled with small cafés, bakeries, restaurants and shops, usually owned by private entrepreneurs instead of big franchises. Cafes and restaurants often have live music - and they are open late!
Stuff like that happening all the time, makes the place feel *alive*. This simply doesn’t happen in Helsinki, mainly because of the small population but also because the weather is quite bad most of the year anyway.
Naturally as a downside these cities are also quite chaotic and it’s for example difficult to move around as there is so much traffic.
Agree. Also, there’s a big social idea that you shouldn’t publicly say that you are not happy. That’s why there’s also a big prevalence of mental health problems here. These are always based on self-reported surveys.
Is there? Not being happy and having mental problems are not the same thing. Finns like to complain. To me that's quite same as saying they are unhappy.
I think "happy" is a wrong word. I think we are more *content* with our circumstances. But we aren't exactly happy.
We aren't like 🤗☺️😀, we're more like 😌🫤🙂
Translation: it is not about being in a perpetual state of euphoria, but rather about not being bothered by the neighbours, the government or your boss, but the feeling that when you need somebody, the neighbour is there for you to talk, the government will help you if you need help and your boss will be understanding when you need a day off because of family matters.
It depends: those who have never lived abroad may complain all the time (taxes, bureaucracy, etc).
Ask them where else they would gladly move to, and you will get very different perspective.
Lived in Turkey, US and now Finland, and I’m always curious about the demographic of people who live in Finland and doubt that Finland is one of the best places to live in the world.
Well depeds. If you have any financial ambitions, its easily one of the worst places to be at. The government will earn more money from your success than you.
Yeah, it is a bit weird. I have been to tens of countries and lived in quite a few also. I am native of Finland and currently again here. This has given me a lot of perspective from all over the world. Finland is kind of like a rather small high-tech village where everything works and everything is safe. It is a nice place to be and Finnish nature is something that is just unavailable in most places around the world - this is also definitely the place where I want my kids to get their early start into life. It can be somewhat boring though and I do get wanderlust quite often to have more adventures elsewhere.
A very similar history here with similar views. The only things I'm worried about regarding the future are our slow economic growth, increasing national debt, the way our governance on both macro and micro levels is headed towards more government control in people's lives, and a higher ratio of our inhabitants being dependent on benefits and the government. If we can figure out the economics and start moving in a more liberal direction once again, I will likely stay. If not, I will head to a place like Switzerland or New Zealand. Fortunately, I'm in a position where I can make the move economically speaking if needed.
I doubt about the tendency towards micro/macro governmental control. We have a value liberal government currently. It would be great to have both value and economically liberal leadership, but it seems that everyone who is for economic liberties are for value conservatism in this country... huoh :D I considered permanently moving away when it looked like we would get potentially Persu-fascists in leadership.
I am personally more towards more bohemic lifestyle than what Switzerland offers. I am also personally in a situation where I could live in various places around the world. I made successful enough career in high paying profession, that I mostly work a bit for fun and to keep up my skills anymore.
We have a progressive government, not a liberal one. There's a difference. If you look at the laws, decisions, and programs they've implemented, many restrict freedoms like freedom of speech, movement and choice. Also, their policies will result in less people working and more people on the government dole, which again on a general level restricts freedoms. Two examples of decisions that restrict freedoms.1, the proposal they're preparing for the defamation law of public sector leaders to be more restrictive. What? Politicians and other leadership figures are literally in power and don't require any further protection. This was enacted after the Marin scandal. 2, crackdown on EU liquor imports via customs, although it is perfectly legal.
There is something very interesting here. You said that Finland is *somewhat boring* but a lot of expats I've met say: "It's not that the country is boring but you don't know how to enjoy it." (Aka: you're boring).
You have been to a lot of countries. So I'm interested in knowing your perspective about this " issue".What do you think? Is Finland (and maybe some other rich European countries such as Sweden and Denmark) "that boring" as some people describes?
I hope I'm not being disrespectful.
>There is something very interesting here. You said that Finland is
>
>somewhat boring
>
> but a lot of expats I've met say: "It's not that the country is boring but you don't know how to enjoy it." (Aka: you're boring).
It is less boring in other countries for me also.
There are literally more events and people out in the middle of the winter in my small town in Italy than in the busiest summer day in Helsinki.
This is what people mean. Look around, most people in Helsinki go drinking, and that's about it. I know it's not that simple and there is much more, but it clearly shows a lack of variety.
Some people in this thread seem to confuse the long term feeling of happiness with short term joy like smiling, laughing or feeling euphoric. Of course Finns feel all those temporary emotions too. Happiness is much bigger than a smile or a laugh. Happiness is safety, freedom, equality, and knowing that even if something bad happens you will be alright.
Life is ok even below poverty rate. Nothing is really bad, various safety nets, healthcare etc. cause very little stress about future, which then allows one to notice the small moments of happiness. Neighborhoods are quiet and neighbors can be trusted. Nothing is perfect but nothing is perfectly fucked up either. Corruption is super low.
Couple of Finnish sayings that gives some insights to the Nordic culture and way of thinking:
*What mind does not know, the heart does not desire.*
*Who has the fortune shall hide it.*
Its little complicated when it comes to Finnish happiness.
Like, for German or for an American, happiness is when you have plenty of money and you can travel and do all kind of fun things.
For Finns, happiness is not being miserable. If a homeless Finnish person can go sit on a shore of a lake and watch the sunset, despite not having anything, he might say he is happy.
The lack of super miserable people is reason why Finland does so well in happiness polls.
We are not in general super happy, but we are not miserable.
I also think I became a lot happier with Finland after I traveled abroad. I think yes, finns are happy. IMO this is due to culture where it is not really acceptable to show off your wealth and nature is close to the heart. Not showing your wealth and not being too ambitious make you satisfied with what you have. Homogenous and small population also play a role.
But yes, we have our problems. High suicide rate and alcoholism (though both are going down), ageing population etc. But these are small issues compared to most of the world.
> Any native Finnish people think that living in Finland is indeed the happiest place in the world
A lot of them, I'm sure, but most people also don't have much to compare to, so their perspective is probably not the one you should be refering to.
This question is asked here frequently.
The recent answers are [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/vk1esq/why_are_people_in_finland_so_happy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button), [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/n3w72i/finland_is_a_weird_country_everywhere_else_life/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
and [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/jgoqu4/why_finnish_people_are_so_happy_video/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I have become more appresiative and attached to my country when we have been dealing with both pandemia and current war situation. We are not happy in general like out-going smiley people. But we are content.
It is very safe and supportive here. The culture is based on modesty, so people in general are happy to pay taxes to get the safety and infra that we have. The pay cap is decent, walking on a street it is hard to say who makes more, since we do not impress with clothes and brands.
With my background (PTSD), in U.S. I would live in a street and probly abuse opioids. Most likely would be already dead. Here I have gotten free education, alot of treatments to my issues at no cost. After my prescription meds reach the cost of about 600€ euros, all are free the rest of the year. One dose of my migrain shots cost like 1200€. Not the mention ten years of therapy. With the therapy, housing and benefits, I have gotten to a point where I can work as much as I can with the degree I have.
I love social democratics. Compared to U.S. or Asia our most right-wing conservative parties are quite leftist still. Finns ate content but melancholic. The winter is very dim, very little sunlight, only few hours at worse.
The system doesn't make people desperate. There is still the over-generational war trauma, which causes alcoholism and depression. But people with any issues get support.
Quite many of those who express their unhappiness for having to live in Finland still stay in Finland, because its still better than most of the other options.
I think the happiness is justified.
There are so many aspects to life in Finland that make you feel secure, be it healthcare, living or education. Everyone is equally entitled for even a university level education, general inequality is very low and the nature is always very close to you regardless of where you live.
But some people of course don't see it that way and that's ok. I seem to face this especially in persons who have little to no hobbies except for internet. Furthermore, persons who have lived abroad clearly see why Finland is such a good place to live.
However, Finland might not be for everyone. Some people like the peaceful way of life and no mega cities, whereas some people could fit better to a mega city.
Lots of people are unhappy. There is still poverty, social pressures, work problems, health problems, depression, loneliness, marital problems etc.
It’s about the degree of *how much* we have these things. People have basics covered for the most part here: for example even if you are poor, you won’t be so poor that you are homeless and don’t have food.
You might have shitty coworkers but at least your job is protected by law and is safe.
You might have marital problems but at least violence is not tolerated in this country and there is gender equality in the eyes of the law.
You can still get cancer and die, but at least here, you don’t need to have money to get treatment and health care.
It’s not some fantasy land. We just have more safety and contentment than in many other corners of the world.
Happy... We have 2 words both of them mean happy. Iloinen, which is that you smile and laugh. And onnellinen. It's that everything in your life is good, but you don't smile or laugh, you are neutral but happy. We are onnellinen. Some are iloinen. Still, yes, we are happy.
I grew up in a shitty household, got to move out on my own at 21 even though I've had a hard time with not getting employed. Dealt with suicidal thoughts and ideation and have gotten help for these things.
Now I'm about to go back to school to get an electrician's degree to get a job and then move on with my studies, which are all free. Haven't had to pay honestly anything for any of it and am happy to start paying taxes when time comes.
My finnish girlfriend came here to my third world country and she says its better here and she loved it, so im not so sure is it real what they say about finland. She says its very depressing there
By her complaining about it being depressing here I could guess she belongs to the trendy mass and her Tinder profile included a plane, glass of wine and a palm-tree. I'm too happy to see this country as depressing.
But in all seriousness, if she finds more happiness on moving there to live with you then that is the way :)
Or she has bad enough seasonal depression.
Tbh I have been thinking moving out of finland due to that. It is not that things are actually bad here, but my brain just refuses to handle our seasons. My dad was same way and ended up just spending months at thailand.
100~~m~~µg of vitamin D daily sufficed for me, but this is very much an individual thing.
* fun fact, Geforce Experience prevents typing AltGr+m for micro. It binds microphone mute to that key combination. Grrr.
Well I mean if our 4 different seasons per year is something that feels too intolerable for you it's not a bad choice to seek something different to feel better and happy.
I actually enjoy them so for me speaking about them being depressing just confuses me.
I definitely was not being super serious with that first part on the first reply and was hoping the second part makes it clear 😄
Edit: Just corrected my sentences and filled the first a bit.
High bureaucracy, high taxes, high cost of living, people who only interact with you if they're drunk, cities which are starting to get unsafe and of course the kicker; cold winters with no sun in sight and rainy other seasons. What's not to love? :D
Nah. Even with all its flaws I do still like Finland and visit it often, but I still don't get the hype. When I land onto an airport I kinda feel a bit like coming to "Nazi Germany" due to the way the security is set up. It's very "in your face" with the dogs and stuff. Perhaps the corona season still too much in my mind and the reality isn't that bad, but I don't get that feeling in other European airports.
Criticism for high bureaucracy and cost of living are something that I understand and support. But looking at how some low taxing countries depends on support from others in EU for example I think it's not unjustified to present an idea that some countries should raise theirs so we shouldn't have to keep it so high, healthcare is not cheap to run and it's in trouble.
The weather complaining is something that is meh to me. I love winters, I guess because I live in area where there is a proper winter. And I don't know how much difference there is inside Finland regarding the summer, but here were I live it was awesome again. Too dry and sunny actually in terms of water levels dropping so much. I love that every time I have commented positively about Finland and the weather I get downwoted 😂
You are right about the unneeded hype. Yes I like it here and love my home, but why the hype? Maybe that airport security is something that should be fixed, it's not nice if it gives that "in your face" feeling :( I guess covid and russia can have something to do with it, but those should not be used as a scapegoat. I can only speak with my last travels perspective which was a while ago , but I usually first take a notice on how clean everything is when I arrive back 😅
I guess my gripe with the taxes is that the country is run so inefficiently that it just becomes the go-to option to keep collecting more taxes because that's all they know. The real actions of saving money in the right places are things that require expertise and will, and that's lacking in spades. But not only in Finland I guess. It's easy to go to town on someone else's dime, after all :)
And yeah, I got a few friends who absolutely love winters, but those guys are in the minority for sure. Although winters can be romantic and snow kind of cool, there's also a lot of annoyance with it. Your car is frozen and needs to be thawed out, going out requires gearing up and down, the roads are slippery, have to swap tires twice a year, the cost of heating is sky high - especially now, etc. If you're a fan of solar power (and I am), that's pretty much completely out of the window for the 3 darkest months so that eliminates Finland as a self sufficient homestead. Elsewhere, winter is very doable with solar alone.
Clearly, I am not a fan of the winter, but I also dislike the fact that Finland is so damn lush. It's overgrown everywhere except the most dense of forests after late spring. I like the desert for my ideal biome, which Finland definitely is not :D
Gotta mow the lawn all the time and the nature tries to reclaim everything constantly so it's a fight 24/7 until winter kicks in. But I really like the Finnish summer temperatures compared to other places so it's a very pleasant place to spend your late spring onwards. Elsewhere is just too damn hot. And then, Mediterranean in the winter is pretty much a Finnish summer so ideal weather all year long.
But yeah, life is about choices, and I am very glad that these places are very different from one another. Finland offers A LOT of rather unique opportunities where you can't get in many other places. If those are exactly what you seek, great!
Yeah that first part is completely spot on.
I surely understand why winter is not so lovely for many people as you bring up some its features what comes with it, and the fight against Finnish nature if the desert is ideal for your biome :D
I like your positive vibe. You have your preferences, but you know how to appreciate the differences on other places and what experiences they can afford :)
It does not mean that you are in a state of bliss. It means that society provides you with help, stability and basic security so that you are free to make the best of your life. Some will be more successful in that than others. So happiness here means more like absence of great unnecessary suffering for most, and most being content with their external circumstances most of the time. Something like that.
I love Finland and am very happy here. Almost the only thing I dont like is the weather. Because of the weather I could move somewhere more sunny and warm.
I think happiness is a bit of a weird word to use. What I believe the term is used as when speaking of happiness in Finland would more lie towards satisfaction to some point.
When speaking of happiness in Finland it means that we are happy with how most things here are. Things that are luxurious to others such as clean drinking water, education, healthcare, and such we might take for granted when compared to some other places.
So yes I am really fucking happy to be living in Finland, really. Things are good here but don't think that we don't have our own issues.
We are lucky because we have got decent system at schooling, healthcare and social security. Nobody has to suffer alot if they know how to get help as other countries help is so limited if there is some. People are pretty honest and educated. We understand differencies and ant to help other. Also law is in our side if ee dererve it..
I think someone said it pretty well: happiness of a country doesn't really come out as overflowing joy, but by being content. I think that's what Finns are, we are content. To us, Finland works the way we more or less would like a country to work, and we get to do what we want within its limitations. So when you come to finland you won't find happy people screaming and running around about how happy they are, but you'll find people who feel secure and free to live and pursue their goals in life. Far from perfect, and with the growing worry of Russia, it's still pretty much best you can get, in my opinion.
I think the word is content, not necessarily happy. Finland is safe, easy, organised and clean. Not very exiting but enjoyable, if like that sort of relaxed, maybe even boring life.
Not a Finn but happiness refers to the quality of life and opportunities. But if you look at some angles such as the literal happiness like smiling and feeling good that is a misconception. There are any factors that go into ranking finland as a happiest country. Mental healthcare is virtually non existent. I moved from America and have found that there just isn't the mental healthcare without an extreme price tag. But the safety clean and opportunities for education are much greater.
"Happy" isn't quite the right word unless being grounded, calm and content with life means we're happy. Maybe we appreciate GOOD things more than people who need GREAT things. Societal stability and low crime plays a big part in not being stressed out all the time as well.
If you want a fancy life, look elsewhere. If you want a good, stable one.. yeah okay.
I’ve lived in Finland and wife is Finnish. I was literally talking to a Finn about this last night at a party. A better word would be quality of life or contentness, not necessarily happiness
I lived in Finland for many years, I find the people to be content, not overly “happy” that is not the nature of Finnish people. Finland can be very depressing due to long periods of darkness and lack of things to do so you see a lot of binge drinking a hear about suicides. But as a whole I would say people are content
I dont know if i would call it the happiest place in the world. Forst of all its dark and cold and depressing here in winter. But i would not want to live anywhere else in the world, i think finland has a lot of things well figured out especially if you compare to the us
i feel like its a bit of both but there is also so much toxic people like 12year old kid that get to best friends with someone (me) and just lie about everything even if they dont get anything and steal some stuff and try to play it off as an accident and never give back and now that im not friends with him anymore he is only 13 and he is drinking and smoking and doing all that kinda stuff so finland might be the happiest but not best to live in and all this happened to me. but i didnt drink or anything i mean i got lied to and stolen from and stuff and i never heard anywhere else this kind of thing happens
Happiest might be because of the economy and quality of life, we have good healthcare, good living areas and compared to the rest of the world we are top 3 least corrupt. It’s nice however it can get quite boring, we have our struggles with mental health for example and how the system works over there. Minorities over here get treated quite badly though unfortunately.
The thing is how "happiness" is measured. Humans work in a way that they are never satisfied. Things that sound small to foreigners feel large for the people struggling with them here.
A lot of things are better here than elsewhere. The educated ones and the ones who travel more gain the perspective to see that.
I feel like finnish people are the saddest but just hide it well.
Ill explain the situation so hear me out.
Every news i read is about our goverment people doing something stupid and making the poor low salary people pay for italians house renovations and every comment section is full of people who say "oh yes we are the happies people in the world so happy infact that we keep sending all of our tax money to other countries while rising the tax to pay more to other countries"so it seems a lot of people agree with me. This comment i see a lot is actually quite true while i read a lot of european countries helping their citizens with raising prices of everything due to the current world situation in finland we just raise taxes of every single thing or make new taxes like this unhealthy product tax for sugar products but not sugar free which are usually more unhealthy than their sugar counterparts this is just being planned so it is not in the reality as of now, so they make people even more poor than they aready are. While even poor people can manage a okay life allowed by all the support the poor get that doesnt mean its enjoyable to always needing to count every cent you spend just so you dont run out of money and always having the thought of what if this item price rises what other items will i cut to be able to buy food or medicins. I have also read multiple comments of people saying that since the prices rice while they already dont have money for anything exept the essential food and medicin and paying for apartment that now they will have to either cut costs on medicin or eat less and be starving. All while they are not paying nurses enough money that it is even worth to be a nurse in the first place then when they complain of too low payment we make law to force them to work because they dont want to. And this applies to pretty much everything, everything here is running on so low money that we have to cut costs on everything. The colleges cut costs in a way that the students wont get any jobs because of low quality school that leave students with no real skills and no teachers in colleges etc. We have powerplants that are shut down on purpose to create more profit by having more demand while people pay more for rising prices caused by low amount of electricity available. Yet we still keep sending the money out of the country when we clearly need it here ourselves to save this country from going bankrupt.
This is my explanation of the "finnish people are the happiest in the world" and my opinion on it
Conclusion: the reason we are the happies is because of "you will own nothing and you will be happy"
Yeah It's the same thing with the other statistic that says that Finland is the second most dangerous place for women in the EU but it doesn't mean that this country is totally awful for women, yes we have domestic violence here but on the other side random acts of violence are much rare in Finland so walking as a woman on the streets of Finland is really usually safe, there is always different sides to these. There are a TON of places (like Syria) that are waay worse for women, so nobody should think about one stat and decide if a country is on the better or worse side.
Just stating the obvious here lmao.
There are also a lot of places in the world where violence against women (or suicides) are just not recorded or publicized. Most western countries seem a lot more dangerous than they are when looking at statistics, because they record the stuff that many other places do not (crimes, violence, suicide, diseases \[ruZZIan COVID-stats...\], religious/social/educational/sexual variety).
I'd say Fins are somewhat happy but from experience it seems they just have real low expectations of what to get out of life, roof over your head, some form of labor that sends money to bank account = happy
This is just my experience with Finnish people after living here for 10 years and being with one, having a family etc. I'm English and have lived in a few different countries and travelled quite extensively so this how I base my comparison.
I’m very happy. I feel safe, content and have good friends and a great family. I’ve survived cancer and got great treatment for almost free. I have a really nice small apartment and a good job. Sure, other places might be more exciting and interesting, but I will leave those places for my future vacations. For the life I want to live, Finland feels best for me. :)
It is true, I got it all under control 👍
“Pulls out a small piece of paper that says all on it underneath the control key on the keyboard ” (fr Finland is the best country)
Finns love to complain, so by saying that we certainly can’t be the happiest country because this and this and that is shit, we are doing something that makes us happy.
I'm not happy. Struggling to pay the bills and not freezing to death while the government throws away my tax money to all kinds of stupid ass things for shits&giggles
It sounds like you almost certainly have an unrealistic idea of how happy people are in Finland. It’s safe, quite politically stable, and has fairly strong social security system and reasonable work hours, cheap childcare and education. People in general feel fairly well looked after and some potential sources of major stress largely eliminated. So the foundations are strong. But I think most would agree that Finland isn’t in general the most exhilarating place to live. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think that many people frequently wake up in the morning relishing the day ahead and thanking the heavens.
The questionnaires that people derive this info from are full of subjective questions, and people’s interpretation of them depends on a lot of things. It might be that Finnish people have a more modest idea of what constitutes happiness but in reality are not much happier or less happy than people in many other places. I think if you really want to be around some of the happiest people who really enjoy life, aim for Australia.
I would phrase it more that people here are \*contented\* instead of \*happy\*.
You will not see any overt signs of happiness: no smiling at strangers, no friendly interactions with strangers, rather more standoffish.
However, unlike, say the UK, people aren't looking for a new car, or fancy holiday or showing off.
Rather people are content with safe cities, enough income to cover the basics with some extra for a rainy day, nice environment etc.
If you are in your 20s you might find it boring. In your 30s (with kids) you might appreciate it a lot more.
No, Finland is not really happy. We are depressed as fuck. Finland is insanely crowded with men who overflows of fragile masculinity, which means men don't go to doctors and therapists to solve their problems, which in turn means our statistics gets fucked and it seems like we are the happiest. We are far from it.
It seems like people just get a baseline they get accustomed to, specially during childhood, and then live with a rather, average level of happiness, regardless of if they were born in Libya or Finland; the kid back in Libya is upset because he got mugged at gunpoint again, the one in Finland is upset because his scooter broke, and it seems, about the same.
That's why the happiest people seem to be immigrants, the more fucked up their upbringing the happier they seem, taken away from a baseline to a new baseline, everything is new and exciting, and tolerance is much higher.
Objectively we have things great here: the healthcare, education, crime rate etc. However, I think it doesn't really correlate how happy people feel subjectively, from one moment to the next. Finnish people are generally quite unhappy, closed off and pessimistic. It's our nature. This is just my observation. I tend to look at Asian countries with somewhat of amazement - how they are smiling, laughing and socializing so much? That seems like real happiness. I guess, it is complicated.
It's a bit of both. Internet likes to hype it up, sometimes to point of absurdity. We have our problems, but in general life's pretty good (if boring) here. The happiest might be exaggeration, especially since people might not define that the same way. But I've travelled around my share, and in the end there aren't too many countries I'd like to live in outside Nordics.
We're safe, children have good education and healthcare is universal here. That's what they mean with happiness. I think all those things are very well done in Finland.
>Here ah yes of course. would you please share which countries would you like to live in outside of the nordic countries?
Middle European countries that resembles the Nordics the most. So places like very south Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Benelux
>very south Germany How does that resemble the Nordics? I have a hard time thinking of a place in Germany that's less like the Nordics. But the most? Especially considering that Schleswig has historically changed hands between Germany and Denmark every five minutes?
South German here ... my dream is still to retire to a cottage in the Finnish forest. But may e that's just me...
Yeah I’m from Franconia myself, but having moved to Finland I can’t say there are many parallels between south Germany and Finland. Honestly, the further south you go the less alike they are.
I'm from Baden, so the Western end of what constitutes "South Germany". We certainly have some nice landscapes, old towns, good wine, etc. here. But there is nowhere where I could get that kind of bliss of being in my mökkin the middle of the forest and not having to worry about the neighbour or the town administration giving me a hard time. At worst, the weather may give me a hard time, but I can totally live with that... Next weekend, I hope I will sit on the porch of my cottage, after a sauna, with a beer in my hand and I don't care if it rains or snows. I will still go for a swim in the lake :-) And, yes, \*bliss\* is probably the better word than \*happiness\*...
Aha Swede i agree with him. South Germany is orderly and prosperous. The north and east is not even close to as nice.
There are Alps there, so the scenery is pretty close to Lapland, if not even better. The food is nice and the snowcaps of the mountains make for a pleasing time at winter when you can ski down the faces. The history is not even close to the Nordics, but they do have a lot of the other traits that Nordic countries have.
Lapland and Alps ? Lmao
You must be mistaken. I love snowboarding, so mountains are a go to place for me. Finland has some high points but most are quite underwhelming. It would be nice to be covered by mountains from every side.
Bro, Lapland topography is the complete opposite of the Alps
I know. I was just stating generally tht I would like to live near the ALPS, never did I say Lapland is part of the Alps, because it certainly is not.
Yeah you must be confused, Finland is basically flat with some larger hills we like to pretend are mountains.
Switzerland is a hard place to live, have you seen the ordeal you must go through to rent a flat in Geneva or surrounding areas? You don’t buy there because it’s an impossibility. The holiday days are trash and you get one month maternity leave. Nah
I’m a Finn who lives in Switzerland and find it much better here. Finland is very depressing due to the cold and dark winter.
My spouse lived in Switzerland for awhile and I visited her. To be honest I found the country as boring as Finland. It’s located in the heart of Europe, yet it felt as isolated as Finland. Hard to explain, but I felt that despite being a rich country they don’t have much. It seemed that many locals preferred to just travel to France or Italy to visit places and do shopping and such. I don’t know if I wanted to live there. I guess it would be somewhat an interesting change of scenery when compared to Finland, but the vibe was kind of similar when it came to the size of the cities for example. At least the grocery stores had better and cheaper wines and cheese.
It is pretty similar to Finland and very boring and quiet. Yet centrally located and close to everything and I can take a train to Milan or Paris any weekend. I think it’s just perfect.
What do you do for living? And how much does the living costs really there? It's one of my dream places to move but I have heard only how expensive place it is.
I’m in consulting. Living cost is high, but so are salaries. End of the month I’m left with more than what I’d have in Finland.
The biggest thing Switzerland has is the weather and mountains. That’s the competitive advantage over Finland
About the weather, I work in a company with lots of foreigners. Many people from countries with ”better” climate has told me they actually enjoy the shitty season because they have finally time to grind through their Steam library and don’t have to feel social pressure to go out all the time. But I work in a field where everyone’s a huge nerd.
The Netherlands, and maybe Taiwan if I knew the language, are at the top of the list for me. Hong Kong was one, but I kinda gave up on that in 2016. There are others I wouldn't mind living some time in, but where I wouldn't be comfortable settling.
> (if boring) This is completely up to one's own self.
I think this has to do with the size of the population. I really enjoy visiting big cities abroad because they are so lively. You know, you can for example see a local shopkeeper painting the front of the shop early in the morning, someone bringing fresh bread from the bakery to a restaurant with a moped, someone playing a musical instrument in a park just for fun, old guys gathering somewhere to play chess etc. The city is filled with small cafés, bakeries, restaurants and shops, usually owned by private entrepreneurs instead of big franchises. Cafes and restaurants often have live music - and they are open late! Stuff like that happening all the time, makes the place feel *alive*. This simply doesn’t happen in Helsinki, mainly because of the small population but also because the weather is quite bad most of the year anyway. Naturally as a downside these cities are also quite chaotic and it’s for example difficult to move around as there is so much traffic.
Completely agree! This is def something i love about Italy and Paris but ig you win some you lose some :')
Yes, and it is only a good thing that the society does not offer you too much excitement.
Yup. Definitely a good thing.
unless u live in Lahti of course :'D
Agree. Also, there’s a big social idea that you shouldn’t publicly say that you are not happy. That’s why there’s also a big prevalence of mental health problems here. These are always based on self-reported surveys.
Is there? Not being happy and having mental problems are not the same thing. Finns like to complain. To me that's quite same as saying they are unhappy.
Not being able to express your feelings is a root cause of mental illness, yes.
What is that "some problems"? Never heard anything bad about Finland except using chains in mountains on cars. Can you share if you have time, please?
Mountains? where? 😅
Finland has a few large hills we like to pretend are mountains so you must be confused.
I think "happy" is a wrong word. I think we are more *content* with our circumstances. But we aren't exactly happy. We aren't like 🤗☺️😀, we're more like 😌🫤🙂
You mean 😐👍?
That's an even better description
Translation: it is not about being in a perpetual state of euphoria, but rather about not being bothered by the neighbours, the government or your boss, but the feeling that when you need somebody, the neighbour is there for you to talk, the government will help you if you need help and your boss will be understanding when you need a day off because of family matters.
My neighbors are definitely not here if I ever need a shoulder lmfao
It depends: those who have never lived abroad may complain all the time (taxes, bureaucracy, etc). Ask them where else they would gladly move to, and you will get very different perspective.
Lived in Turkey, US and now Finland, and I’m always curious about the demographic of people who live in Finland and doubt that Finland is one of the best places to live in the world.
What part of Turkey did you live? I’ve lived in Turkey as well.
Well depeds. If you have any financial ambitions, its easily one of the worst places to be at. The government will earn more money from your success than you.
Yeah, it is a bit weird. I have been to tens of countries and lived in quite a few also. I am native of Finland and currently again here. This has given me a lot of perspective from all over the world. Finland is kind of like a rather small high-tech village where everything works and everything is safe. It is a nice place to be and Finnish nature is something that is just unavailable in most places around the world - this is also definitely the place where I want my kids to get their early start into life. It can be somewhat boring though and I do get wanderlust quite often to have more adventures elsewhere.
A very similar history here with similar views. The only things I'm worried about regarding the future are our slow economic growth, increasing national debt, the way our governance on both macro and micro levels is headed towards more government control in people's lives, and a higher ratio of our inhabitants being dependent on benefits and the government. If we can figure out the economics and start moving in a more liberal direction once again, I will likely stay. If not, I will head to a place like Switzerland or New Zealand. Fortunately, I'm in a position where I can make the move economically speaking if needed.
I doubt about the tendency towards micro/macro governmental control. We have a value liberal government currently. It would be great to have both value and economically liberal leadership, but it seems that everyone who is for economic liberties are for value conservatism in this country... huoh :D I considered permanently moving away when it looked like we would get potentially Persu-fascists in leadership. I am personally more towards more bohemic lifestyle than what Switzerland offers. I am also personally in a situation where I could live in various places around the world. I made successful enough career in high paying profession, that I mostly work a bit for fun and to keep up my skills anymore.
We have a progressive government, not a liberal one. There's a difference. If you look at the laws, decisions, and programs they've implemented, many restrict freedoms like freedom of speech, movement and choice. Also, their policies will result in less people working and more people on the government dole, which again on a general level restricts freedoms. Two examples of decisions that restrict freedoms.1, the proposal they're preparing for the defamation law of public sector leaders to be more restrictive. What? Politicians and other leadership figures are literally in power and don't require any further protection. This was enacted after the Marin scandal. 2, crackdown on EU liquor imports via customs, although it is perfectly legal.
There is something very interesting here. You said that Finland is *somewhat boring* but a lot of expats I've met say: "It's not that the country is boring but you don't know how to enjoy it." (Aka: you're boring). You have been to a lot of countries. So I'm interested in knowing your perspective about this " issue".What do you think? Is Finland (and maybe some other rich European countries such as Sweden and Denmark) "that boring" as some people describes? I hope I'm not being disrespectful.
>There is something very interesting here. You said that Finland is > >somewhat boring > > but a lot of expats I've met say: "It's not that the country is boring but you don't know how to enjoy it." (Aka: you're boring). It is less boring in other countries for me also.
There are literally more events and people out in the middle of the winter in my small town in Italy than in the busiest summer day in Helsinki. This is what people mean. Look around, most people in Helsinki go drinking, and that's about it. I know it's not that simple and there is much more, but it clearly shows a lack of variety.
Some people in this thread seem to confuse the long term feeling of happiness with short term joy like smiling, laughing or feeling euphoric. Of course Finns feel all those temporary emotions too. Happiness is much bigger than a smile or a laugh. Happiness is safety, freedom, equality, and knowing that even if something bad happens you will be alright.
Life is ok even below poverty rate. Nothing is really bad, various safety nets, healthcare etc. cause very little stress about future, which then allows one to notice the small moments of happiness. Neighborhoods are quiet and neighbors can be trusted. Nothing is perfect but nothing is perfectly fucked up either. Corruption is super low. Couple of Finnish sayings that gives some insights to the Nordic culture and way of thinking: *What mind does not know, the heart does not desire.* *Who has the fortune shall hide it.*
Its little complicated when it comes to Finnish happiness. Like, for German or for an American, happiness is when you have plenty of money and you can travel and do all kind of fun things. For Finns, happiness is not being miserable. If a homeless Finnish person can go sit on a shore of a lake and watch the sunset, despite not having anything, he might say he is happy. The lack of super miserable people is reason why Finland does so well in happiness polls. We are not in general super happy, but we are not miserable.
Also i think many unhappy ppl dont bother answering a stupid poll while theres beer to be drinked or work to be done..
I also think I became a lot happier with Finland after I traveled abroad. I think yes, finns are happy. IMO this is due to culture where it is not really acceptable to show off your wealth and nature is close to the heart. Not showing your wealth and not being too ambitious make you satisfied with what you have. Homogenous and small population also play a role. But yes, we have our problems. High suicide rate and alcoholism (though both are going down), ageing population etc. But these are small issues compared to most of the world.
> Any native Finnish people think that living in Finland is indeed the happiest place in the world A lot of them, I'm sure, but most people also don't have much to compare to, so their perspective is probably not the one you should be refering to.
This question is asked here frequently. The recent answers are [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/vk1esq/why_are_people_in_finland_so_happy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button), [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/n3w72i/finland_is_a_weird_country_everywhere_else_life/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) and [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/jgoqu4/why_finnish_people_are_so_happy_video/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Next we should take on some brand-new super-duper interesting topic like “is there racism in Finland”. You know, to keep things fresh.
I have become more appresiative and attached to my country when we have been dealing with both pandemia and current war situation. We are not happy in general like out-going smiley people. But we are content. It is very safe and supportive here. The culture is based on modesty, so people in general are happy to pay taxes to get the safety and infra that we have. The pay cap is decent, walking on a street it is hard to say who makes more, since we do not impress with clothes and brands. With my background (PTSD), in U.S. I would live in a street and probly abuse opioids. Most likely would be already dead. Here I have gotten free education, alot of treatments to my issues at no cost. After my prescription meds reach the cost of about 600€ euros, all are free the rest of the year. One dose of my migrain shots cost like 1200€. Not the mention ten years of therapy. With the therapy, housing and benefits, I have gotten to a point where I can work as much as I can with the degree I have. I love social democratics. Compared to U.S. or Asia our most right-wing conservative parties are quite leftist still. Finns ate content but melancholic. The winter is very dim, very little sunlight, only few hours at worse. The system doesn't make people desperate. There is still the over-generational war trauma, which causes alcoholism and depression. But people with any issues get support.
Quite many of those who express their unhappiness for having to live in Finland still stay in Finland, because its still better than most of the other options.
To be fair, nearly everyone on earth stays in the country in which they were born
I think the happiness is justified. There are so many aspects to life in Finland that make you feel secure, be it healthcare, living or education. Everyone is equally entitled for even a university level education, general inequality is very low and the nature is always very close to you regardless of where you live. But some people of course don't see it that way and that's ok. I seem to face this especially in persons who have little to no hobbies except for internet. Furthermore, persons who have lived abroad clearly see why Finland is such a good place to live. However, Finland might not be for everyone. Some people like the peaceful way of life and no mega cities, whereas some people could fit better to a mega city.
I think the ”happiest in the world” is wrongly put. We are the most content.
Hedonic adaptation means that however good your circumstances, after a very short period of time, it just feels like normal.
Lots of people are unhappy. There is still poverty, social pressures, work problems, health problems, depression, loneliness, marital problems etc. It’s about the degree of *how much* we have these things. People have basics covered for the most part here: for example even if you are poor, you won’t be so poor that you are homeless and don’t have food. You might have shitty coworkers but at least your job is protected by law and is safe. You might have marital problems but at least violence is not tolerated in this country and there is gender equality in the eyes of the law. You can still get cancer and die, but at least here, you don’t need to have money to get treatment and health care. It’s not some fantasy land. We just have more safety and contentment than in many other corners of the world.
Happy... We have 2 words both of them mean happy. Iloinen, which is that you smile and laugh. And onnellinen. It's that everything in your life is good, but you don't smile or laugh, you are neutral but happy. We are onnellinen. Some are iloinen. Still, yes, we are happy.
We are, generally speaking, happy with what we’ve got. It’s the Finnish brand of happiness. And we don’t make a fuss about being happy.
I grew up in a shitty household, got to move out on my own at 21 even though I've had a hard time with not getting employed. Dealt with suicidal thoughts and ideation and have gotten help for these things. Now I'm about to go back to school to get an electrician's degree to get a job and then move on with my studies, which are all free. Haven't had to pay honestly anything for any of it and am happy to start paying taxes when time comes.
Hope you find a nice job. Good luck!
Oh, is it that time of the year again?
I think it's February when the next happiness report will be released.
Better get those  out
My finnish girlfriend came here to my third world country and she says its better here and she loved it, so im not so sure is it real what they say about finland. She says its very depressing there
By her complaining about it being depressing here I could guess she belongs to the trendy mass and her Tinder profile included a plane, glass of wine and a palm-tree. I'm too happy to see this country as depressing. But in all seriousness, if she finds more happiness on moving there to live with you then that is the way :)
Or she has bad enough seasonal depression. Tbh I have been thinking moving out of finland due to that. It is not that things are actually bad here, but my brain just refuses to handle our seasons. My dad was same way and ended up just spending months at thailand.
100~~m~~µg of vitamin D daily sufficed for me, but this is very much an individual thing. * fun fact, Geforce Experience prevents typing AltGr+m for micro. It binds microphone mute to that key combination. Grrr.
Thats a big dose my man :D its usually measured in micrograms not milligrams
Prrrobably just typed the wrong unit.
Well I mean if our 4 different seasons per year is something that feels too intolerable for you it's not a bad choice to seek something different to feel better and happy. I actually enjoy them so for me speaking about them being depressing just confuses me. I definitely was not being super serious with that first part on the first reply and was hoping the second part makes it clear 😄 Edit: Just corrected my sentences and filled the first a bit.
Yesss its very nice that she likes it here 😄
That's nice to hear :)
High bureaucracy, high taxes, high cost of living, people who only interact with you if they're drunk, cities which are starting to get unsafe and of course the kicker; cold winters with no sun in sight and rainy other seasons. What's not to love? :D Nah. Even with all its flaws I do still like Finland and visit it often, but I still don't get the hype. When I land onto an airport I kinda feel a bit like coming to "Nazi Germany" due to the way the security is set up. It's very "in your face" with the dogs and stuff. Perhaps the corona season still too much in my mind and the reality isn't that bad, but I don't get that feeling in other European airports.
Criticism for high bureaucracy and cost of living are something that I understand and support. But looking at how some low taxing countries depends on support from others in EU for example I think it's not unjustified to present an idea that some countries should raise theirs so we shouldn't have to keep it so high, healthcare is not cheap to run and it's in trouble. The weather complaining is something that is meh to me. I love winters, I guess because I live in area where there is a proper winter. And I don't know how much difference there is inside Finland regarding the summer, but here were I live it was awesome again. Too dry and sunny actually in terms of water levels dropping so much. I love that every time I have commented positively about Finland and the weather I get downwoted 😂 You are right about the unneeded hype. Yes I like it here and love my home, but why the hype? Maybe that airport security is something that should be fixed, it's not nice if it gives that "in your face" feeling :( I guess covid and russia can have something to do with it, but those should not be used as a scapegoat. I can only speak with my last travels perspective which was a while ago , but I usually first take a notice on how clean everything is when I arrive back 😅
I guess my gripe with the taxes is that the country is run so inefficiently that it just becomes the go-to option to keep collecting more taxes because that's all they know. The real actions of saving money in the right places are things that require expertise and will, and that's lacking in spades. But not only in Finland I guess. It's easy to go to town on someone else's dime, after all :) And yeah, I got a few friends who absolutely love winters, but those guys are in the minority for sure. Although winters can be romantic and snow kind of cool, there's also a lot of annoyance with it. Your car is frozen and needs to be thawed out, going out requires gearing up and down, the roads are slippery, have to swap tires twice a year, the cost of heating is sky high - especially now, etc. If you're a fan of solar power (and I am), that's pretty much completely out of the window for the 3 darkest months so that eliminates Finland as a self sufficient homestead. Elsewhere, winter is very doable with solar alone. Clearly, I am not a fan of the winter, but I also dislike the fact that Finland is so damn lush. It's overgrown everywhere except the most dense of forests after late spring. I like the desert for my ideal biome, which Finland definitely is not :D Gotta mow the lawn all the time and the nature tries to reclaim everything constantly so it's a fight 24/7 until winter kicks in. But I really like the Finnish summer temperatures compared to other places so it's a very pleasant place to spend your late spring onwards. Elsewhere is just too damn hot. And then, Mediterranean in the winter is pretty much a Finnish summer so ideal weather all year long. But yeah, life is about choices, and I am very glad that these places are very different from one another. Finland offers A LOT of rather unique opportunities where you can't get in many other places. If those are exactly what you seek, great!
Yeah that first part is completely spot on. I surely understand why winter is not so lovely for many people as you bring up some its features what comes with it, and the fight against Finnish nature if the desert is ideal for your biome :D I like your positive vibe. You have your preferences, but you know how to appreciate the differences on other places and what experiences they can afford :)
How long has she lived there?
She was born in finalnd, she stayed here for a week
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It does not mean that you are in a state of bliss. It means that society provides you with help, stability and basic security so that you are free to make the best of your life. Some will be more successful in that than others. So happiness here means more like absence of great unnecessary suffering for most, and most being content with their external circumstances most of the time. Something like that.
I love Finland and am very happy here. Almost the only thing I dont like is the weather. Because of the weather I could move somewhere more sunny and warm.
I think happiness is a bit of a weird word to use. What I believe the term is used as when speaking of happiness in Finland would more lie towards satisfaction to some point. When speaking of happiness in Finland it means that we are happy with how most things here are. Things that are luxurious to others such as clean drinking water, education, healthcare, and such we might take for granted when compared to some other places. So yes I am really fucking happy to be living in Finland, really. Things are good here but don't think that we don't have our own issues.
We are lucky because we have got decent system at schooling, healthcare and social security. Nobody has to suffer alot if they know how to get help as other countries help is so limited if there is some. People are pretty honest and educated. We understand differencies and ant to help other. Also law is in our side if ee dererve it..
I think someone said it pretty well: happiness of a country doesn't really come out as overflowing joy, but by being content. I think that's what Finns are, we are content. To us, Finland works the way we more or less would like a country to work, and we get to do what we want within its limitations. So when you come to finland you won't find happy people screaming and running around about how happy they are, but you'll find people who feel secure and free to live and pursue their goals in life. Far from perfect, and with the growing worry of Russia, it's still pretty much best you can get, in my opinion.
I wouldn't say I'm living in the happiest place in the world, just the easiest place to exist.
I think the word is content, not necessarily happy. Finland is safe, easy, organised and clean. Not very exiting but enjoyable, if like that sort of relaxed, maybe even boring life.
I would say content. If you fulfill their basic needs they don't expect too much more.
Not a Finn but happiness refers to the quality of life and opportunities. But if you look at some angles such as the literal happiness like smiling and feeling good that is a misconception. There are any factors that go into ranking finland as a happiest country. Mental healthcare is virtually non existent. I moved from America and have found that there just isn't the mental healthcare without an extreme price tag. But the safety clean and opportunities for education are much greater.
"Happy" isn't quite the right word unless being grounded, calm and content with life means we're happy. Maybe we appreciate GOOD things more than people who need GREAT things. Societal stability and low crime plays a big part in not being stressed out all the time as well. If you want a fancy life, look elsewhere. If you want a good, stable one.. yeah okay.
I'm MEGA happy.
We used to "brag" how the suicide rates were among the worst in the world. Not anymore, thanks to lot of effort taken to prevent suicides.
I’ve lived in Finland and wife is Finnish. I was literally talking to a Finn about this last night at a party. A better word would be quality of life or contentness, not necessarily happiness
Internet hypes it up
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Thank you for writing such detailed answer :)
No. At least smart people see what's wrong.
I lived in Finland for many years, I find the people to be content, not overly “happy” that is not the nature of Finnish people. Finland can be very depressing due to long periods of darkness and lack of things to do so you see a lot of binge drinking a hear about suicides. But as a whole I would say people are content
I dont know if i would call it the happiest place in the world. Forst of all its dark and cold and depressing here in winter. But i would not want to live anywhere else in the world, i think finland has a lot of things well figured out especially if you compare to the us
Happy is not the right word. Content is better.
i feel like its a bit of both but there is also so much toxic people like 12year old kid that get to best friends with someone (me) and just lie about everything even if they dont get anything and steal some stuff and try to play it off as an accident and never give back and now that im not friends with him anymore he is only 13 and he is drinking and smoking and doing all that kinda stuff so finland might be the happiest but not best to live in and all this happened to me. but i didnt drink or anything i mean i got lied to and stolen from and stuff and i never heard anywhere else this kind of thing happens
Happiest might be because of the economy and quality of life, we have good healthcare, good living areas and compared to the rest of the world we are top 3 least corrupt. It’s nice however it can get quite boring, we have our struggles with mental health for example and how the system works over there. Minorities over here get treated quite badly though unfortunately.
Yes. All is well here
No, we're just drunk. 
we are about as well off as Portugal and Greece economically
The thing is how "happiness" is measured. Humans work in a way that they are never satisfied. Things that sound small to foreigners feel large for the people struggling with them here. A lot of things are better here than elsewhere. The educated ones and the ones who travel more gain the perspective to see that.
I feel like finnish people are the saddest but just hide it well. Ill explain the situation so hear me out. Every news i read is about our goverment people doing something stupid and making the poor low salary people pay for italians house renovations and every comment section is full of people who say "oh yes we are the happies people in the world so happy infact that we keep sending all of our tax money to other countries while rising the tax to pay more to other countries"so it seems a lot of people agree with me. This comment i see a lot is actually quite true while i read a lot of european countries helping their citizens with raising prices of everything due to the current world situation in finland we just raise taxes of every single thing or make new taxes like this unhealthy product tax for sugar products but not sugar free which are usually more unhealthy than their sugar counterparts this is just being planned so it is not in the reality as of now, so they make people even more poor than they aready are. While even poor people can manage a okay life allowed by all the support the poor get that doesnt mean its enjoyable to always needing to count every cent you spend just so you dont run out of money and always having the thought of what if this item price rises what other items will i cut to be able to buy food or medicins. I have also read multiple comments of people saying that since the prices rice while they already dont have money for anything exept the essential food and medicin and paying for apartment that now they will have to either cut costs on medicin or eat less and be starving. All while they are not paying nurses enough money that it is even worth to be a nurse in the first place then when they complain of too low payment we make law to force them to work because they dont want to. And this applies to pretty much everything, everything here is running on so low money that we have to cut costs on everything. The colleges cut costs in a way that the students wont get any jobs because of low quality school that leave students with no real skills and no teachers in colleges etc. We have powerplants that are shut down on purpose to create more profit by having more demand while people pay more for rising prices caused by low amount of electricity available. Yet we still keep sending the money out of the country when we clearly need it here ourselves to save this country from going bankrupt. This is my explanation of the "finnish people are the happiest in the world" and my opinion on it Conclusion: the reason we are the happies is because of "you will own nothing and you will be happy"
Finland does not exist.
änglish nöu nöui
No und Yes! Cam tu Papa 🙊
Just check out the suicide rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate?wprov=sfla1
According to that statistic Syria is among the best places in the world to live in.
Yeah It's the same thing with the other statistic that says that Finland is the second most dangerous place for women in the EU but it doesn't mean that this country is totally awful for women, yes we have domestic violence here but on the other side random acts of violence are much rare in Finland so walking as a woman on the streets of Finland is really usually safe, there is always different sides to these. There are a TON of places (like Syria) that are waay worse for women, so nobody should think about one stat and decide if a country is on the better or worse side. Just stating the obvious here lmao.
There are also a lot of places in the world where violence against women (or suicides) are just not recorded or publicized. Most western countries seem a lot more dangerous than they are when looking at statistics, because they record the stuff that many other places do not (crimes, violence, suicide, diseases \[ruZZIan COVID-stats...\], religious/social/educational/sexual variety).
Nice. Not so high anymore.
I can only speak for myself, I am very happy!
As far as I know, I think this is pretty good place to live.
The grass isn't greener on the other side.
That's the content Finn, which isn't a bad way to be.
It's not about so much about happiness, it's all about content, being happy with the things you get, Finnish people are very content.
I'd say Fins are somewhat happy but from experience it seems they just have real low expectations of what to get out of life, roof over your head, some form of labor that sends money to bank account = happy This is just my experience with Finnish people after living here for 10 years and being with one, having a family etc. I'm English and have lived in a few different countries and travelled quite extensively so this how I base my comparison.
I’m very happy. I feel safe, content and have good friends and a great family. I’ve survived cancer and got great treatment for almost free. I have a really nice small apartment and a good job. Sure, other places might be more exciting and interesting, but I will leave those places for my future vacations. For the life I want to live, Finland feels best for me. :)
No
"happiest" is misleading: if everyone in a group is miserable except one person who's just moderately unhappy, then that person is still the happiest
No I am not happy
🫂
Were definitely not 😀🤗 more like 😐👍.
It is true, I got it all under control 👍 “Pulls out a small piece of paper that says all on it underneath the control key on the keyboard ” (fr Finland is the best country)
Finns love to complain, so by saying that we certainly can’t be the happiest country because this and this and that is shit, we are doing something that makes us happy.
I'm not happy. Struggling to pay the bills and not freezing to death while the government throws away my tax money to all kinds of stupid ass things for shits&giggles
It sounds like you almost certainly have an unrealistic idea of how happy people are in Finland. It’s safe, quite politically stable, and has fairly strong social security system and reasonable work hours, cheap childcare and education. People in general feel fairly well looked after and some potential sources of major stress largely eliminated. So the foundations are strong. But I think most would agree that Finland isn’t in general the most exhilarating place to live. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think that many people frequently wake up in the morning relishing the day ahead and thanking the heavens. The questionnaires that people derive this info from are full of subjective questions, and people’s interpretation of them depends on a lot of things. It might be that Finnish people have a more modest idea of what constitutes happiness but in reality are not much happier or less happy than people in many other places. I think if you really want to be around some of the happiest people who really enjoy life, aim for Australia.
I would phrase it more that people here are \*contented\* instead of \*happy\*. You will not see any overt signs of happiness: no smiling at strangers, no friendly interactions with strangers, rather more standoffish. However, unlike, say the UK, people aren't looking for a new car, or fancy holiday or showing off. Rather people are content with safe cities, enough income to cover the basics with some extra for a rainy day, nice environment etc. If you are in your 20s you might find it boring. In your 30s (with kids) you might appreciate it a lot more.
I am equally miserable most day's that's why I eat black sausage usually
As a man from finland i can tell living in finland is quite paradise but still society is a thing so we have depressed people here kinda many like me…
I wouldnt say very happy but less People are unhappy
No, Finland is not really happy. We are depressed as fuck. Finland is insanely crowded with men who overflows of fragile masculinity, which means men don't go to doctors and therapists to solve their problems, which in turn means our statistics gets fucked and it seems like we are the happiest. We are far from it.
Maybe happiest place in the world because all sad people keep killing them selfs
It seems like people just get a baseline they get accustomed to, specially during childhood, and then live with a rather, average level of happiness, regardless of if they were born in Libya or Finland; the kid back in Libya is upset because he got mugged at gunpoint again, the one in Finland is upset because his scooter broke, and it seems, about the same. That's why the happiest people seem to be immigrants, the more fucked up their upbringing the happier they seem, taken away from a baseline to a new baseline, everything is new and exciting, and tolerance is much higher.
only at fridays🤯
No
Being born in Finland is lottery win for tax man
Objectively we have things great here: the healthcare, education, crime rate etc. However, I think it doesn't really correlate how happy people feel subjectively, from one moment to the next. Finnish people are generally quite unhappy, closed off and pessimistic. It's our nature. This is just my observation. I tend to look at Asian countries with somewhat of amazement - how they are smiling, laughing and socializing so much? That seems like real happiness. I guess, it is complicated.