EXCLUSIVE Our country was voted the happiest nation in the world... but we think it's bull**** - here's why
Strolling through the windswept grey streets of Helsinki, there's one fact every Finn seems to know off by heart – their country is rated the happiest place on earth.
At least that's what the authors of the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report from the University of Oxford decided (for the eighth year in a row).
But most of the Finnish people quizzed by MailOnline haven't the faintest idea how they managed to be crowned champions of the cheerfulness charts.
After all, they may be glowing inside, but perhaps because their country is plunged into darkness and sub-zero temperatures half the year, they do tend to look a bit of a miserable bunch.
That's certainly true of the hundreds of people standing in line for hours outside a foodbank in Helsinki's city centre, with the queue extending around a city block and out of sight.
It's also no stranger to street crime.
Then there's those who live along the 800-mile border with Russia, which is currently shut, who fear that Putin may decide to replicate the invasion of Ukraine.
Those thoughts worried the Finns, and their next-door neighbours in Sweden sufficiently for both countries to hastily join NATO in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
From average wage to suicide rates here's how Finland stacks up to the UK and the US
Economically, Finland has much higher unemployment than the UK and for those in work, while their average gross pay is higher than in Britain, they actually take home considerably less, because they're taxed roughly twice as heavily.
Arguably, they get more back from their taxes, with free healthcare and education, including university tuition. But the provision of services varies widely depending where in the sparsely-populated country you actually live.
Despite being a nation of just 5.6millon people, Finland's area is 40 per cent larger than the UK, with a third of its landmass inside the Arctic Circle.
Its unemployment rate at 9 per cent, is double that of Britain and at the start of this year, the Finnish government embarked on swingeing cuts to its welfare state, bringing in means-testing for many benefits which Finns previously took for granted.
Kela, the social insurance institute, has stopped paying housing allowance for many households previously receiving an average of 230 Euros a month, though pensioners are exempt.
Unemployment benefits are also being cut and parental allowances will not rise with inflation.
Although healthcare costs are heavily subsidised, patient fees for primary care are increasing by more than a fifth and specialist care costs by 45 percent.
At the Hursti foodbank in central Helsinki founded by her great-grandfather in 1916, Sini Hursti, 40, has seen the effects of poverty in this supposed paradise.
'When I look at the people, sometimes as many as 2,000 of them queuing outside our foodbank in the morning, I cannot agree that Finland is the happiest country on earth,' she told MailOnline.
'All the news I hear is bad about the economy and the threat from Russia.
'People are struggling to manage, and they just cannot make ends meet. Everyone is very aware of what is happening in Ukraine and I'm scared that we could be next – we're right next door to them.
'The people we see here, there are some alcoholics and drug-users, but they're not the majority, it's just people who are struggling financially and families who don't have enough to make ends meet.
'There is a welfare state here, but they are taking more away in taxes and cutting benefits, so people are in a difficult position.'
Sini has taken over the management from her father, former youth pastor Heikki, 70, who still helps out. The Hursti bank is well known throughout Finland and receives food donations from supermarkets and financial help from the public – and once a €25,000 cheque from US heavy metal giants Metallica while touring in Finland.
In the street outside the Hursti's building, Alexander, 63, an unemployed tailor who didn't want to give his surname, was among those patiently waiting in line.
Shivering slightly, with his eyes streaming from the chill of the morning, his reaction to the Happiness Index was pithy: 'It's bulls***, I'm sorry to say.
'Our government are like the Muppet show and they're cutting everything. For a long time our economic prosperity was linked with Nokia, but when it collapsed, the whole country went downhill.
'I lived in Italy for a few years and I noticed there that the family structure is very strong and relatives gather round to help when someone is in trouble, but in Finland we tend to be more solitary and that support network isn't always there.
'The foodbank is a big help for me and I go to this one and others around the city to get enough to eat.'
A few hundred metres away, homeless drug user Daniel Schrack, 30, was hanging around outside Sörnäinen Metro Station in what is nicknamed by residents 'Amphetamine Square'.
For years, it has been a favourite place for drug dealers and users, despite frequent complaints and police raids.
Daniel was not impressed by the Oxford/UN survey.
'I think Finland is far from the happiest place on earth,' he said.
'Many people don't have somewhere to live and everything costs a lot. I was on a housing list for eight years and was never given a place to live.
'The welfare payments are hardly enough to get by – I have to go to a place where the homeless can sleep for €1. I receive €590 a month on my benefits, but a pair of shoes costs €100. You've got to find food, medicine, everything.
'Drugs including amphetamines are what got me into the situation I'm in. I don't know why I started, but I'm trying to get clean. It's not that easy to get help when you're homeless.'
In 'Amphetamine Square', we watched as police arrested two young men for suspected drugs offences. One was white with a Mohican hairstyle and the other black wearing a hooded jacket.
Both were thoroughly searched for knives or needles before being put in the back of a police van.
The incident was a regular occurrence according to one local we spoke to.
'The police pick people up all the time,' he said. 'But no matter how many arrests they make, the people keep coming back here.'
Heading down from Sörnäinen Metro Station, Helsinki's legalised red-light district is essentially one street, Vaasankatu, lined with a few sleazy bars and strip-joints, but it's a far cry from the fleshpots of Amsterdam, as we walked along an old man swigging from a bottle of brandy slumped against a wall..
Some parts of the city, especially underpasses, have been the target of graffiti artists, and at some sites the city authorities have allowed the spray painters' work to remain, in the hope they won't spread their activities elsewhere, with mixed results.
Further east in Kontula, the high concentration of migrants over the years has changed the mix of shops with kebab restaurants and shisha bars predominating.
Kontula has generally been considered one of the most notorious suburbs in East Helsinki due to violence, gangs and drug dealing. A few years ago, youths ran a drugs trade near the shopping area alongside the Metro station, according to local reports.
Drug use appears to be a problem all over the city. Even in Helsinki's main railway station, the cubicles are fitted with disposal bins for needles.
The social housing surrounding the shopping area looks less forbidding than many inner city estates in Britain, with wide walkways and fir trees separating the blocks, which are usually not much higher than five or six storeys.
After the happiness survey was released, Finland's President Alexander Stubb suggested another reason to be cheerful was the country's '2.2 million saunas'.
Almost 90 per cent of Finns bathe in a sauna at least once a week - an activity that's considered good for both physical and mental health.
But not everyone is so convinced.
One man who was waiting for food said: 'The foodbank is a big help for me and I go to this one and others around the city to get enough to eat'
Responding to his message, behaviour analyst and body language expert Saara Huhtassari wrote: 'The claim that Finland is the world's happiest country falls short, overlooking low salaries, high taxes, conflict threats, a failing education system, hidden corruption and the burden of socialism.'
Another said: 'Agreed. These happiness polling outcomes are meaningless.'
For many years Finland had one of the world's highest suicide rates. While the number of deaths has halved over the last three decades, suicide rates remain slightly higher than the EU average.
A culture of heavy drinking was linked to the crisis but alcohol consumption has declined since 2007 although it remains relatively high compared with other European countries.
Part of the reduction is probably down to the government's strict controls on the sale of alcohol, which is only available in specialist 'Alko' stores, which close at 9pm on weekdays, 6pm on Saturdays and all day on Sunday.
We travelled east from Helsinki to the Russian border, which has been mostly closed since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, though there have been sporadic 'deliveries' of third-country migrants into Finland from the Russian side, as part of Putin's hybrid war with the west.
Sawmill fire safety officer Pekka Tiimo, 60, and his wife Maritta, 58, live in Lappeenranta, just a few kilometres from the Russian border.
'It does worry me being so close to Russia if I'm honest,' he said. 'Like many Finns, I have a gun in the house, but I don't think that would protect me for long if the Russians invaded!
'I'm glad that we joined NATO – that is the best thing we could do for our security.
'I don't think it's true that Finland is any happier than many other places, we have our problems like crime and unemployment and then there are some things that we do well like education and healthcare.'
Hairdresser Maritta added: 'I don't think there is such a thing as a happy country. People have their own individual situations and that's what decides if they're happy or not – their job satisfaction, their family set-up.'
Despite the fear of Russia, most residents regret that the border has been closed as those Russians who did visit, used to spend freely in the supermarkets and restaurants of Lappeenranta and other border towns.
Bangladeshi-born taxi driver Bahadur, who is studying for a masters in business at the local university, said: 'Lots of shops are struggling to stay in business – the town is dying. I'm afraid the truth is that we need those Russians!'
Mother-of-one Milla Vitikainen, 33, a beautician, joked that there were many places in the world she would like to live other than Finland, such as Bali or Costa Rica.
'But seriously, there are a lot of things to be said for living in Finland that we take for granted like free healthcare and education. We do pay high taxes and at the same time, the government is trying to cut benefits for various people, so things could change.'
Mother-of-two Virve Ruti, 42, was jogging through the forest near the closed border with Russia when we met.
'I don't know if it's true that Finland is the happiest place in the world,' she said, 'but I doubt it.'
Myself, I'm happy, and being able to walk and jog through these woods is lovely, but not everyone is that lucky.
'I don't worry too much about the Russians – I don't think they would ever attack us.
'My children are aged 10 and 15, I expect when they grow up they will move to the city, probably Helsinki, because that's where the jobs are.
Italian student Sara (pictured), living in Lappeenranta said the town wasn't very exciting, but she enjoys life there. 'I was worried about the Russians because of Ukraine, but I feel safe here now. People here are generally honest and although this is highly debated, I find people very welcoming', she said
'We have our problems in Finland but generally if you get sick or lose your job, the state will take care of you to some extent.'
Italian student Sara, living in Lappeenranta said the town wasn't very exciting, but she enjoys life there.
'I was worried about the Russians because of Ukraine, but I feel safe here now. People here are generally honest and although this is highly debated, I find people very welcoming.
'They're not as expressive as we Italians, but if you speak their very difficult language, you can find the warmth underneath.'
Back outside Helsinki's main railway station, primary school teacher Onerva Girs, 22,thought there was something in the Happiness Index.
'I think we are happy, but we don't always realise it. We get free education and free healthcare, but we tend to complain a lot, but I don't know who gets asked the questions for this survey, because I don't think you'd find many Finnish people telling you how happy they are!
'I feel that being born in Finland is like winning the lottery and I'd rather live here than anywhere else. It is expensive, but so is much of Europe, and although we pay high taxes, we get quite a lot back for it.'
Traffic engineer Niko Suokko, 28, agreed, up to a point: 'Everyone is always talking about the happiness index and wondering why Finns don't look happy on the outside, especially when the weather is grey and horrible. It's warm today, by our standards, you know. [6C]
'I think the index isn't measuring happiness, but the possibility of it.
'So if the government is taking care of the people, and public transport is working, and you have the chance to get a job, family and education.
Taking all those into account, you have a great chance for happiness, but it's your responsibility to take the chance. '
*The World Happiness Report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
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