In 2021, in the "Global Happiness Index Country Ranking" released by United Nations , among the five Nordic countries, Finland ranked 1st, Denmark ranked 2nd, Sweden ranked 4th, Norway ranked 6th, and Sweden 7th, all of which entered the top 10, and Nordic Europe is also the happiest region in the world.
The five Nordic countries were able to enter the "happiest countries in the world" thanks to the small gap between the rich and the poor in the country, ZF's integrity and high welfare policies. The high welfare policies of the five Nordic countries are even envious of Americans in the world's number one power. How do they make money to maintain high welfare?
1. Finland
Finland is "the happiest country in the world". In 2021, Finland's per capita GDP has reached US$54,008, making it a high-income country.
Finland has 179,000 islands and 188,000 lakes, known as the "country of thousands of lakes". The scenery is particularly beautiful, but Finland is cold and long in winter, and the summer is mild and short. One-third of the land is in Arctic Circle , which also makes the life of Finns more monotonous, especially in the four winters, with less entertainment life. At the same time, Finns attach great importance to education, food safety, etc., and are also very guaranteed.
Finns are a high welfare country.
The mother has 263 days of maternity leave and can receive a subsidy of 760 Finnish mark. Children aged 0-17 have monthly child subsidies, and children from single-parent families can also receive additional subsidies. Finland implements free education, free tuition and book fees, and can enjoy a free lunch every day. Finnish people enjoy medical insurance benefits, and the state subsidizes drugs, and the people only need to pay 50% of the medical expenses. For severe illness and long-term patients, only 25% of the treatment fee or full subsidy is required. Enterprise employees who are sick can receive sick leave subsidies. If you have an accident or an occupational disease, you can enjoy reimbursement of all medical expenses and receive full salary during the rehabilitation period.
In Finland, vulnerable groups, such as disabled people, can also receive good care. Disabled people over the age of 16 can enjoy pensions and family services. The Finnish government will also provide the lowest pension for the elderly who do not have a pension - national pension, as well as various home-based health services and medical care services, which allows Finns to receive good care in their old age and enjoy their old age.
High welfare requires high income maintenance.
Finland is a country with relatively rich resources. Finland's forest coverage rate is about 80%, about 22.82 million hectares, with an average of 4.2 hectares and a timber storage capacity of 2.189 billion cubic meters. At the same time, Finland has very rich peat resources, with proven reserves of about 69.094 billion cubic meters.
Finland is a highly industrialized and liberalized market economy, with per capita output exceeding that of old powers such as the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The economic pillar is manufacturing, mainly focusing on the wood, metal, engineering, telecommunications and electronics industries. Communications giant Nokia is a representative enterprise in Finland's communications industry. Finland also has international giant companies such as UPM Huichuan Group and Stora Enso Group.
2. Denmark
Denmark ranks second in the happiness index national rankings. In 2021, Denmark's per capita GDP is US$67,758, making it a high-income country.
In the eyes of Chinese people, Denmark is a "fairy tale kingdom". With Andersen and Andersen's fairy tale, it is a romantic, happy and beautiful country.
Denmark has an extremely complete social welfare system . The economy is highly developed, the gap between the rich and the poor is extremely small, and the people enjoy extremely high quality of life.
In Denmark, the mother has 24 weeks (168 days) maternity leave. Children aged 0-17 can receive subsidies ranging from 10,600 kroner to 17,000 Danish kroner every year. The subsidies received by each family cannot exceed 35,000 kroner (about 6,703 US dollars).
Denmark implements free education, each citizen can receive various education for free, and students can also receive living allowances from the government. Denmark's health care system is very complete, and every citizen can enjoy free medical care services. After unemployed in Denmark, you can get an unemployment allowance of 90% of the past average salary.Citizens over the age of 65 can receive government pensions, with the minimum basic pension monthly before tax of 5552 kronor (about 1,063 US dollars). At the same time, you can also obtain subsidies for housing, transportation, etc.
Denmark has relatively scarce mineral resources, but oil and natural gas are very rich, with proven oil reserves of 290 million tons and natural gas reserves of 200 billion cubic meters.
Denmark is a very developed industrial country, especially the agriculture, animal husbandry, fishery and food processing industries, which are very developed. Denmark is known as the European cheese market. Denmark's industrial industries include food processing, machinery manufacturing, petroleum mining, shipbuilding, cement, electronics, chemicals and other departments, of which more than 60% of industrial products are used for export to earn foreign exchange. Denmark has a highly developed agriculture. Denmark is also the largest fishing country in the EU, with fishing accounting for about 36% of the total fishing in the EU. Denmark's services such as tourism, insurance, telecommunications, and finance are also very developed.
3. Iceland
Iceland is the "fourth happier country in the world". In 2021, Iceland's per capita GDP is US$69,033, making it a developed and high-income country.
Iceland has a land area of about 103,000 square kilometers and a population of only 371,000, making it the country with the smallest population density in Europe. Iceland is located on the edge of the Arctic Circle, but has a warm current of the North Atlantic 2, so the climate is moderate. Iceland is the only country among the NATO member states that does not have a standing army.
Iceland's welfare policy is very complete. Newborn parents can receive a 9-month vacation and receive an 80% salary allowance. People do not need to spend money on education and medical care. For some serious and difficult diseases that cannot be cured in Iceland, when going to the United States for treatment, the relevant costs will be fully borne by the Icelandic government. Iceland also has social security and social welfare projects such as basic pensions, supplementary pensions, unemployment subsidies, disability subsidies, widow subsidies, etc. Iceland will also provide housing subsidies and hardship subsidies to low-income earners.
fishery is the pillar industry of Iceland. Iceland has unique hydraulic and geothermal resources, the energy industry is very developed, and it has abundant electricity and low prices. Therefore, Iceland has developed high-energy-consuming industries such as aluminum smelting and steelmaking and fishery product processing industries. Iceland's biopharmaceutical industry is developing rapidly, ranking fourth in the world, becoming one of Iceland's main economic pillars. The tourism industry is currently the largest ice industry, with output value accounting for total domestic output value 29%. Iceland's software industry, building materials industry, energy industry, etc. are also relatively developed.
4. Norway
Norway is the "sixth happier country in the world". In 2021, Norway's per capita GDP is as high as US$89,090, making it a high-income developed country.
In Norway, newborn parents can receive 46 weeks of maternity leave and pay full salary. Each child can receive a childcare subsidy of 970 kroner per month, and the monthly care of children over one year old is 6,000 kroner until they go to kindergarten. Unemployment benefits are 60% of the usual income, and disease benefits are 100% of the usual wages. Norwegian people are free to see a doctor or study, and they don’t have to spend money on their own. Norway’s minimum basic pension, singles can receive 162,615 kronor per year, and married couples are 300,850 kronor.
Norway is one of the richest countries today. Rich in oil and gas, hydraulics, forests and fishery resources. Norway is now the largest oil producer in Western Europe and the third largest oil exporter in the world. Industry occupies an important position in Norway's national economy, and is particularly developed in offshore oil, chemical industry, shipping, hydropower, metallurgy, etc. The pharmaceutical industry, electronics industry, service industry and ship manufacturing industry are also relatively good. Norway is the main producer of aluminum, silicon, iron and magnesium, and Beihai Petroleum provides raw materials for the petrochemical industry. Norway is also one of the largest fertilizer producers in the world.
5. Sweden
Sweden is the "seventh happier country in the world". In 2021, Sweden's per capita GDP is US$60,029, making it a high-income developed country.
Sweden has a land area of 450,000 square kilometers, making it the largest country in Nordic.
In Sweden, mothers can enjoy a 480-day vacation and can also receive a parent subsidy of 80% of their original income, with a maximum of 284,200 Swedish kroner . The father of the child must take at least 60 days off. Sweden also has public allowance for children, child disability allowance, child care annuity and housing allowance for families with children.Children aged 1-6 can receive a monthly allowance of 1,050 kronor. After the child becomes ill, parents have the right to take leave to take care of the sick child. Each child can receive 80% of the salary, which is borne by the state social security.
In Sweden, going to school is free, including colleges and graduate students. Sweden also has very complete medical and health security policies, and Swedish citizens basically don’t have to spend money on their own when they see a doctor. Swedish employees can enjoy a sick leave allowance of 80% of their normal income when they are sick and unable to work. The Swedish government will also provide unemployed people with an unemployment subsidy of 80% of their working income, with a minimum of 320 kronor per day and a maximum of 680 kronor per day. Sweden is a minimum pension for people over 65 years old.
Sweden is a well-developed industrial capitalist . Its main industrial sectors include mining, machinery manufacturing, , forest and paper industry, power equipment, automobile, chemical industry, telecommunications, food processing, etc. Sweden's aviation, nuclear industry, automobile manufacturing and military industry are very advanced. Sweden also has the world's leading telecommunications industry and pharmaceutical research capabilities. In recent years, Sweden's advantageous sectors have turned to the high-technical intensive machinery industry and chemical industry, and are vigorously developing emerging industries such as information, communications, biology, medicine, and environmental protection.
