From Iceland — Icelanders Are The World's 4th Happiest People. But Who Are The Happiest Icelanders?


Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Art Bicnick

A new UN report puts Iceland in 4th place for the world’s happiest people, raising the question: who are the happiest Icelanders?

The World Happiness Report is out, which examines numerous social and political factors for determining any given nation’s levels of happiness, including quality of government, prosocial behaviour, the wellbeing of immigrants, and other aspects. This year, the Finns top the list as the world’s happiest people, while South Sudan is the most unhappy.

Iceland ended up in 4th place, and has been near the top for several years running. However, the ranking does bring one to ask: which Icelanders come out on top?

Fréttablaðið reports that, according to a Gallup online poll initiated by the Directorate of Health, the residents of the southwest Icelandic town of Grindavík are Iceland’s happiest, while those who live in the Westman Islands are the most unhappy.

There were other sectors examined apart from where in Iceland someone lives, with type of employment being one of them, which yielded the most unsurprising results. Elected officials and business owners reported being the happiest, while labourers and workers in the service industry were the least happy.

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