Finland has been named the world's happiest country for seven years in a row thanks to its robust social welfare system and policies such as generous parental leave.
But one of the most comprehensive annual expat surveys has just seen the country's ranking plummet to 51st place in 2024 from 16th last year.
So why is there such a gulf between the happiness ranking and expat satisfaction?
Expats find the world’s happiest country one of the worst places to live
The annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations – a global networking and advice site for expats – saw Finland placed third to last this year, beating only Türkiye and Kuwait.
16th in 2023 to 51st place in 2024
Finland's ranking plummeted.
Finland performed well in the environment category—even placing first for air quality—and in the ‘digital life’ category which covers the online administration services and availability of card payments.
But expats struggle with many other aspects of life in the country. It ranked one of the most difficult places to learn the language, which has a knock-on effect on friendships and career opportunities.
One Estonian expat said, “even if the company language is English and the position can be done only in English, the companies still require almost native Finnish from applicants.”
The country ranked very low for career prospects and job security. “Local work opportunities for expats are poor and often discriminatory,” an expat from Britain commented.
As for making friends, expats described Finnish people as “not tolerant of foreigners” and “too internal.”
Several comments referred to racism, with one Greek adding that they had experienced “nepotism and highly problematic situations every single day.”
As for making friends, expats described Finnish people as “not tolerant of foreigners” and “too internal.”
While Finland placed 16th in the expat ranking in 2023, previous years show a middle to low placement is actually the norm for the country.
Kathrin Chudoba, marketing manager for InterNations, says that many people move to Finland to join a Finnish partner, meaning they aren’t necessarily moving for their own career prospects or desire to live there.
“I can imagine these people who may not have a clearly laid out career path when they move might be hit particularly hard by a recession or difficulties entering the job market,” she says.
Poor job opportunities could also account for the lower incomes and difficulties with the cost of living many expats say they experience.
“If you are not satisfied with your financial situation or your disposable household income is not enough to live a comfortable life, you’ll likely rate a whole range of categories more negatively such as leisure options or housing because you can’t afford to access them,” says Chudoba.
Why don’t expats in Finland benefit from living in the world’s happiest country?
The World Happiness Report is based on questions that are very different from the Expat Insider survey.
It uses data from a poll that asks respondents to think of a ladder, with the best possible life being a 10 and the worst being a 0. They are then asked to rate their own lives on that scale.
"How it achieves 'happiest country' status is beyond me"
A Brit's comment in the expat survey.
Chudoba says that, in contrast, the Expat Insider survey focuses on specific and “hands-on” experiences. She adds that asking the population in general or expats specifically results in very different outcomes.
“Expats will always compare their current location to their home country or other places they have lived,” she says. “Especially in the case of Finland, the aspects most people didn’t like were all very expat-specific reasons such as speaking the language or how welcoming local people are.”
So while expats may in theory have access to all the services and advantages of Finland, the unique difficulties of living there as a foreigner mar the experience.
As one Brit commented in the expat survey, “How it achieves 'happiest country' status is beyond me.”
