The Netherlands Ranks Fifth in World Happiness Report 2023
The Dutch maintained their position as one of the world’s happiest countries in annual United Nations survey
The Netherlands continues to rank among the happiest countries in the world, coming in again on the fifth place in the recently released World Happiness Report 2023.
The report, which is published annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranks countries based on factors such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
The top four countries are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Israel and rounding out the top ten are Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and New Zealand.
High quality of life and happiness according to the Dutch
The report highlights the Netherlands’ access to quality healthcare, education, and housing, as well as a good quality of life and inclusiveness. The Dutch have a strong cultural emphasis on work-life balance. This means that companies are expected to prioritize the well-being of their employees. Additionally, Dutch employers and employees share the belief that maintaining such balance makes employees more productive, motivated and happy, the report explains.
A great place to live and do business
This Dutch approach to living, or quality of life in the Netherlands, plays an important role in attracting internationals and companies looking for a new business base. The country’s reputation for being a great place to live and work is, also evidenced by other rankings such as OECD, Eurostat and Netherlands Statistics.
About the World Happiness Report
The report is a publication of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, set up by the United Nations to promote integrated approaches to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, through education, research, policy analysis, and global cooperation. The World Happiness Report is based on data from the Gallup World Poll and Lloyd’s Register Foundation, who provided access to the World Risk Poll.
Source: World Happiness Report 2023
3 April 2023