フィンランド、「幸福度番付」７年連続トップ　国連

【ヘルシンキＡＦＰ＝時事】世界各国を「幸福度」で順位付けした国連の「世界幸福度報告書」の最新版が２０日公表され、フィンランドが７年連続で１位となった。（写真はフィンランドのアレクサンデル・ストゥブ大統領〈中央〉）
　１４３か国中、北欧諸国のデンマークは２位、アイスランド３位、スウェーデンが４位となった。
　一方、米国とドイツは初めて２０位圏外となり、それぞれ２３位と２４位となった。
　報告書は、大国が上位に入りにくくなったとし、「上位１０か国のうち、人口１５００万人を超える国はオランダとオーストラリアのみで、上位２０か国で３０００万人超の国はカナダと英国のみ」と指摘した。
　連続最下位となったのはアフガニスタンだ。同国は２０２１年の米軍撤退に伴うイスラム主義組織タリバンの政権復帰により人道的危機が強まっている。
　報告書は２０１２年から公表されている。１人当たりの国内総生産（ＧＤＰ）や健康寿命、社会的支援、選択の自由度、他者への寛容さ、腐敗の認識の６項目について、自身の幸福度を０から１０までの段階で国民に評価してもらい、過去３年間の平均値を基に算定している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/03/21-17:04）

Finland remained the world's happiest country for a seventh straight year in an annual UN sponsored World Happiness Report published on Wednesday.
And Nordic countries kept their places among the 10 most cheerful, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden trailing Finland.
Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, stayed at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed.
For the first time since the report was published more than a decade ago, the United States and Germany were not among the 20 happiest nations, coming in 23rd and 24th respectively.
In turn, Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 at 12 and 13.
The report noted the happiest countries no longer included any of the world's largest countries.
In the top 10 countries only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million. In the whole of the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations over 30 million.
The sharpest decline in happiness since 2006-10 was noted in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan, while the Eastern European countries Serbia, Bulgaria and Latvia reported the biggest increases.
The happiness ranking is based on individuals' self-assessed evaluations of life satisfaction, as well as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.
- Growing inequality -
Jennifer De Paola, a happiness researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland, told AFP that Finns' close connection to nature and healthy work-life balance were key contributors to their life satisfaction.
In addition, Finns may have a more attainable understanding of what a successful life is, compared to for example the United States where success is often equated with financial gain, she said.
Finns' strong welfare society, trust in state authorities, low levels of corruption and free healthcare and education were also key.
Finnish society is permeated by a sense of trust, freedom, and high level of autonomy, De Paola said.
This year's report also found that younger generations were happier than their older peers in most of the world's regions -- but not all.
In North America, Australia and New Zealand, happiness among groups under 30 has dropped dramatically since 2006-10, with older generations now happier than the young.
By contrast, in Central and Eastern Europe, happiness increased substantially at all ages during the same period, while in Western Europe people of all ages reported similar levels of happiness.
Happiness inequality increased in every region except Europe, which authors described as a worrying trend.
The rise was especially distinct among the old and in Sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting inequalities in income, education, health care, social acceptance, trust, and the presence of supportive social environments at the family, community and national levels, the authors said.