Is it true that Finland is the first country in the world simultaneously in terms of happiness and the number of suicides?

Information is popular on the network that Finland leads in the ranking of the happiest countries, but at the same time leads a list of states with the highest level of mortality as a result of suicide. We decided to check if this is so.

Paradoxical data that residents of the happiest country are more likely to end the life of suicide, are discussed by users of social networks (X, Facebook*, Threads*, "VKontakte") And Platform blog. You can find such information on Portals About Finland. In some articles Approvedthat suicide is the main cause of mortality among Finnish youth. The theme of Finland’s leadership in two seemingly contradicting ratings in Telegram is popular. Many popular channels wrote about this, for example ""An alcoholic historian"(136,000 views at the time of writing of the analysis),"Archivist"(92 000) and"Antilyan"(77 000). Some posts provide infographics with statistics of the number of suicides per 100,000 inhabitants - Finland allegedly leads with an indicator of 28.4. 

The information farm for the next surge of interest in Finland and the happiness of its inhabitants was the publication of the annual rating The happiest countries of the world according to The World Happiness Report. This report is timed to International Day of Happinesswhich is noted on March 20. Report releases The Center for Study of Welfare of Oxford University, together with the Gallup Public Opinion Institute, the UN network in sustainable development and editorial board The World Happiness Report, which includes researchers of leading European and American universities. Assessment of happiness Formed Based on a survey, in which about 100,000 people from 140 countries of the world participate annually. The respondent is asked to answer the only one question: he must imagine what is standing on the stairs, the upper step of which is his best possible life, and the lower one is the worst, and then say what the step in his opinion, he is located. Although in the report you can also find data on the per capita GDP, the average life expectancy, corruption, etc., only the answers of the respondents are taken into account when compiling a rating of happiness. Finland occupies the first line of the rating for the eighth time - since 2017.

As for statistics on the level of suicides, it, apparently, is not updated as often as a rating of happy countries. For example, the latter data WHO dates back to 2019. Then this figure in Finland was one of the highest in the European region - 13.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. However, this country was inferior to Russia (21.6), Lithuania (20.2), Ukraine (17.7), Belarus (16.5), Montenegro (16.2) and some other European countries. If we talk about the world as a whole, it would hardly have included in the ten leaders even, given that in some African states the number of suicides was selected for a mark of 90 to 100,000 inhabitants, as, for example, in Leso. 

The International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has a slightly more fresh data: The last rating, which includes information about Finland, was compiled in 2021. Then this country took the fourth place among the countries of the OECR, inferior to Lithuania, Hungary and Estonia. Moreover, to the organization Enter A total of 38 countries - all with a high standard of living and income of citizens. Therefore, most likely, Finland would take a line much lower, if this list would include statistics on all other countries of the world. 

The statistical service of the European Union has a slightly different data. In the same 2021, by data Eurostata, the highest mortality rates as a result of intentional harm were in Germany, while Finland was only in 14th place. And again, this data is only according to the European Union, they do not take into account the most dysfunctional regions of the world.

However, some posts provide an infographics, which states that Finland leads the rating for the number of suicides for 100,000 inhabitants with an indicator of 28.4. States in the list are conditionally divided into categories of “Western countries” (mainly Europe and North America) and “countries of traditional society” (Tajikistan, Brazil, Thailand, etc.). In the first group, the suicide indicator is much higher. The infographic does not indicate where the data was taken from and in what year they were received. With the help of a reverse search for the image “verified” it was possible to find the source of this infographics. Apparently, for the first time it was published in article “Civilizational-valuing grounds for the formation of a social state” by a Russian historian and political scientist, professor of Moscow State University Vardana Baghdasaryanpublished in 2009. However, in the scientist’s infographic there is another line that the authors of the viral posts omitted: Russia with the indicator of 43.1 far overtook Finland.

However, data The WHO somewhat contradict the statistics of Baghdasaryan: and in 2009, the suicide indicator in Finland was lower - 20.4. The Finns did not reach the indicated mark in 28.4 and in several previous years before the publication of the scientific article.

A high number of suicides, indeed, was the national problem of Finland: in the 1990s this indicator Reached marks of 30 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (although even then the country was not in the first place in the world). Since then, the Government of Finland has attached significant efforts To reduce the number of suicides: studies of the main causes of suicides were conducted, access to firearms and poisons was limited, the media began to report cases of such deaths in more neutral expressions, avoiding romanticization. In addition, in the same years, the indicator of suicides throughout Europe as a whole decreased-perhaps due to the emergence of a new generation of antidepressants or the distribution of mobile communications, which allows people to contact relatives and friends more often, without remaining alone. By 2000, the Finland decreased Up to 24.3 per 100,000 inhabitants and since then has gradually decreased (in some years, however, growth was observed relative to the previous period, but it never even reached the 2000 indicator).

Thus, Finland was really the eighth time the rating of the happiest countries of the world, but for the number of suicides it is far from leaders. According to the statistics at the time of writing, this country does not lead even among European countries, not to mention the whole world as a whole. Infographics, which is found in some viral posts, was taken from the 2009 scientific article and not only does not reflect the current state of affairs, but also diverged from the official statistics of WHO 16 years ago.

*The Russian authorities consider Meta Platforms Inc., which owns social networks Facebook, Threads and Instagram, an extremist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Photo on the cover: ChatGPT

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. BBC. Finland Named As Happied Country for Eighth Year
2. The Conversation. Finland Managed to Halve Its Suicide Rate - Here’s How It Happened
3. Is it true that in Black Thursday burnt American investors massively jumped from skyscrapers?
4. Is it true that young liberals more often than other people suffer from mental disorders?