Money alone can’t buy happiness, so the saying goes, and neither, necessarily, can strength, according to the analysts behind a new ranking of the world’s “happiest passport.” Borrowing from the concept of “powerful passport” listings (in which different countries’ passports are rated every year based on how much travel access they give), Global Citizen Solutions has released an index of 50 countries where factors relating to happiness dictate the order.
Money (or prosperity) and power (or mobility) do feature among the list’s six criteria, but they are considered in conjunction with well-being, freedom, health, and safety—all deemed important for happiness.
So, what sets this ranking apart from other powerful passport and happy citizen reports? The authors explain that it places mobility alongside well-being and considers distinct aspects of freedom. It is not only how happy and free life within a country feels that matters, the writers argue, but also how those freedoms transfer when those citizens make choices to leave.
The authors also explain that the group’s lowest-ranked members show why freedom is measured in two ways. In the United Arab Emirates (23rd in the list), “residents report a strong sense of freedom to make life choices, ninth in the sample, but its civil liberties score is the second lowest.” In the United States (28th in the list), “the pattern is reversed: its civil liberties score is in the middle of the sample, but Americans’ sense of freedom of choice ranks 47th, and the country ranks 45th on peace.”
All that said, it is little surprise that at the head of the list for those who regularly follow other similar annual rankings: Finland comes out on top, scoring 93.2 out of 100. It “records the highest life evaluation in the world” and “ranks second in the sample on both freedom at home and mobility.” Its one “comparatively modest pillar,” the analysts note, is prosperity, health and safety, where it comes 11th overall.
The top 10 skews heavily European. Iceland (92.4) comes second, scoring highly for freedom and peace. Denmark, described as the most balanced country in the list, places third with a score of 92.1. Next are Norway (89.3) and Switzerland (88.3). Then come Sweden and the Netherlands. In fact, it’s not until New Zealand, another high scorer for peace at number eight, that we venture outside Europe.
Austria comes in at number nine, and then it’s over to Asia and Singapore, the number one country for income, life expectancy, and powerful passport, sitting at number 10 overall.
Interestingly, the analysis points out that Singapore, however, “ranks 23rd on wellbeing and 30th on freedom at home, where its civil liberties score is 39th in the sample. Singapore illustrates why the index measures freedom in two ways: strong material foundations and a strong passport do not, on their own, place a country at the top.”
