‘Danes the happiest people in the world’

It has not escaped global carnage -- it is down around 37 percent so far this year -- but over five years it is the top performer among developed markets measured by MSCI Indexes, with a gain of around 13 percent putting it just ahead of oil-rich Norway.

OECD economist Justina Fischer -- a German who has studied subjective well-being and its societal and economic correlations for many years -- puts Denmark's happiness down to the fact that people consume a relatively equal share of the wealth they generate, and trust each other. "Denmark is one of the countries with the highest level of trust among people," she told Reuters. In other countries, people are more cynical about institutions from government to business, as well as each other. Denmark was one of the first countries in the current market turmoil to promise an unlimited guarantee on deposits and senior debt in banks. "Trust in peers -- also institutional trust -- but especially trust in peers is a significant and decisive determinant of your subjective well-being," Fischer said. Recruiter Soren Christiansen, 32, relaxing with his fiancée in their up-market rented apartment in one of Copenhagen's newly built residential areas, said trust creates a safer everyday life for him. "It makes me happy to live in a country where you can walk safely around and you do not have to be afraid," he said.

Unique values

The problem for Denmark's government is that not enough people outside know either how happy the Danes are, or why. So the government is spending $75 million to improve its image. Danish diplomat Klavs Holm said this branding project was being prepared before a Danish newspaper in 2005 published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, earning Denmark sharp protest among Muslims: it is not targeted at the Muslim world. He said most people picture Denmark in terms of Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid and Tivoli Gardens. What they don't see is the country's "unique Danish values."

"The Danes are 'The Happy People'. Why?" said the Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy, citing how Danes are comfortable with simple pleasures like swimming in the harbor on a summer's day, which could be deemed too risky elsewhere.

"A woman is riding her bike with two kids in a box in front -- and it is even raining -- how can she do that? The Danes are devoted to biking and to fighting global warming locally. Those are some of the values that interest other people," he said.

One woman cycling through Copenhagen, decorator Mette Ellevang Petersen, 26, said it meant a lot to her to feel safe and that she could rely on other people. Although she is a nervous about her future job situation -- decorators are often first to suffer in a slowdown -- she said she mostly felt sorry for the people around the world who have suffered the consequences of the crisis.

The Danish island of Samso, whose inhabitants have after a decade achieved a target of self-sufficiency in renewable power, is one example of a self-reliant community initiative that Denmark has to offer.