From watching too much Nordic noirI’ve learned the basic lessons of Scandinavian safety: Stay out of the deep woods, avoid all “bumpy peasants”, avoid any solstice or equinox rituals, and run screaming from any creature (human or otherwise) wearing horns in the anatomically wrong place.
But assuming you can avoid pagan magic and “old gods,” the Nordic countries score well on many other dimensions of human development. in the year the latest World Happiness Reportfor example, Finland tops the list, while Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway round out the top six. (Costa Rica is the non-Nordic exception, ranking fourth here.)
There are also these countries near the top of the world average life expectancy.
They also have the most freedom of the press on the planet.
Reporters Without Borders (or RSF, using the initials of its French name, Reporters Without Borders) today The 2026 edition of the excellent World Press Freedom Indexand Norway continues to lead the leaderboard for decades. Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia are also in the top 10. Looking at the report’s global map, the Nordic region stands out as the freest place on Earth for journalists; is the only area of the map marked in green.
RSF global press freedom map, 2026.
Credit: RSF
RSF global press freedom map, 2026.
Credit: RSF
Unfortunately, general press freedom has declined. According to RSF, for the first time in its history, “more than half of the world’s countries now fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very severe’ categories for press freedom. The average score for all 180 countries and territories surveyed in the Index over 25 years has never been lower.”
