And it will come as little surprise that Finland have won for the ninth year out of the last ten but the world’s happiest country… where are you?
Because I just know that my old pal Paula has used her infinite influence to push Suomi’s charms on the voting board on the Good Folk of the World Happiness Report.
Now on the basis that we are all of us ambassadors for our countries wherever we go then Paula has spread the word for Finland admirably on her travels.
An adopted Scot after marrying fellow journo Graham Murray.
He’ll forgive me that I have come to know Paula as ‘Missus’ after a misunderstanding when myself and Paula found ourselves on a group trip to Orlando back in the day.
Now when we turned up for the wellness treatments at the Disney hotel where we were staying the host jumped to a wrong conclusion because of our surnames.
And assumed that we were a couple, which I wouldn’t wish on the delightful Paula.
Well, that’s why
Now it is virtually impossible to stress out in the surroundings of a spa treatment.
And perhaps that is the secret to Finland’s perennial happiness.
With Finns seemingly spending most of their free time in their 1,000 lakes.
Helsinki mayor Daniel Sazonov clearly extols the virtues of a good sauna.
Which every Finn has, with an estimated three million saunas for a population of just 5.5 million.
‘I suggest trying out the different saunas in Helsinki and maybe even a plunge into the cold Baltic Sea,’ he suggests.
And because we always see ourselves as a public service, here’s the top 20 of happiest countries.
Twenty with plenty
- Finland
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Costa Rica
- Sweden
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- Ireland
- Belgium
- Australia
- Kosovo
- Germany
- Slovenia
- Austria
- Czechia
And outside looking in
Now if yours isn’t there then you know what to do about it.
As a postscript the Irish will, of course, be happy to see that the Brits don’t make the top 20, in 29th.
And behind even the USA, in 23rd.