Denmark Tops World Happiness Report 2013

10 Sep 2013

Columbia University's Earth Institute has named Denmark as the happiest country. The country narrowly beat out Norway and has ranked on top of World Happiness Report 2013 as the happiest nation on earth.

However, it has not been the first time that Denmark has seen such a victory. Many-a-surveys have named the Danish Nation among the happiest in the world and Institut for Lykkeforskning (Denmark’s think-tank dedicated to happiness research) carried out a research to get to the bottom of the perceived happiness.

It is a happy country

The study, named 'Det er et lykkeligt land' (‘It is a happy country’), explains why Denmark rates so high in international measurements of happiness.

The report pointed to a strong democracy and civil society, a high degree of freedom, security, good working conditions, prosperity, and trust as being among the core reasons why Denmark ranks so high in happiness surveys.

A professor of national economics at Aarhus University, Christian Bjørnskov, states in the report that they have an extremely high standard of trust in Denmark, and it is one of the most significant explanations behind their high levels of happiness.

First comprehensive look

The study looks into how happiness is measured and why Danes consistently rank on top comprises of interviews by leading happiness researchers, an extensive analysis of reports from the OECD, the UN, and universities around the world, and a colossal Danica Pensions database consisting of over 10,000 Danes' responses to questions related to happiness.

The head of Institut for Lykkeforskning, Meik Wiking, told Berlingske Nyhedsbureau that as per their knowledge, this is the first ever report in the world that tries to give an encyclopedic view of why Danes are so regularly deemed to be the world's happiest people.

Though the report points to Denmark's welfare model as a primary source of happiness, it is in the field of ‘trust’ that Danish people stand out from the pack.