Categories: General

This is the LONELIEST Country in the World

Nordic countries are ranked to be the happiest time and time again, but for someone who has moved here connection can be a struggle. I went to one of the loneliest countries in the world to talk to locals and foreigners about why it's so difficult to make friends and create real connections. We talk about loneliness, the Swedish mindset, Swedish communication, and what to do if you want to make friends in Sweden.

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0:00 Are Nordic countries actually "happy?"
0:39 Sweden: the hardest country to make friends
1:33 Is Sweden actually difficult to make friends?
3:41 Are Swedes lonely?
5:11 Reason # 1 Sweden is lonely: individualism
6:00 Reason #2 Making friends stops in high school
6:27 Why Swedish friendships are different?
8:02 Swedes love their space: a forest in the city
8:25 Reason #3 Coconuts vs peaches
8:42 Negative vs Positive Politeness Theory
9:28 Why Swedish communication is different
12:55 What Tall Poppy Syndrome & Law of Jante have in common
13:38 Swedes hate small talk
14:22 How do Swedes feel about small talk?
16:07 Emotional expression is a no-go
16:34 Why Swedes love to drink
16:50 Is it impossible to make friends in Sweden?
17:12 How to make friends in Sweden?
20:00 Swedes like to compartmentalize their friend groups
20:33 My personal experience in Sweden
21:54 My personal tips and tricks for connecting with Swedes

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CREW:
Marina Iakovleva (directing)

Oleh Voitovych (editing)

Filmed in:
Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden

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  • Sorry for the late upload everyone! This one took a while to edit, but hopefully you enjoyed!

    Do you want to see more of these types of videos?

  • 02:37 Such a nice guy , if he wanted to have friends I am available ,I am from Egypt 😉🇪🇬
    Speaking of Egypt here we are NEVER lonely ,if people find out you are living alone - even by your own free will - they will just drag you to social circles they will make sure you are in contact with others , and doesn't need any basic neccessities ..etc.

    • Yes that is good but too much social contact can be exhausting with too much friends and u can't always trust your friends becuase they can betray u and i think that people here are carefull about that and we like too keep our integrity and private life.

    • Yeah just by the word "drag you" it shows how north africans are very intrusive and like to make lonely people feel uncomfortable

    • @@denniswrande6004 Exactly I don't know what is all this fuss about nordics not being friendly. Many loud societies cry too much about it. They have the urge to befriend people. I feel like most of them (not all) are very impatient and want friendship to be established quickly unlike nordic people who take their time and are more picky when it comes to friends. And to be fair, Nordics are right to keep their circle small. Having too many friends is nothing to brag about . In southern countries when things goes down, you will hardly find someone that will help you (unless it is your parents or to a less extent your relatives). That is why quality over quantity.

  • Living in a nordic country all my life and I haven't been able to make 1 friend in real life. Thank you for talking about this issue

    • There are worse countries than Sweden to be in to be happy. I’ve been in an overrated country for it’s supposed openness but it was all bs. Many shits are so fake that I find Sweden very very authentic and polite. That country’s name starts with F.

    • Undortunately, this is becoming an issue not only in Scandinavia, but in the whole Western world.

  • This is JUST like the state of Minnesota in the US. Minnesota is notorious for being a place where it is difficult to make friends if you didn't grow up here, and the people shy away from confrontation. Guess where the bulk of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants to the US settled in the 19th century: Minnesota...

    • @@osky2558 "Minnesota Nice" does exist. People here are polite and have good manners. For example, even in the Twin Cities, drivers will let you in when you want to be in their lane. But some allege that "Minnesota Nice" can also be passive-aggressive.

    • My father, born 1924, grew up in a Swedish/Norwegian community in Northern Ontario. His English Canadian school teacher noticed that the Scandinavian children did not express niceties like 'please' and 'thank you'.

      The Spanish flu killed many area residents. Some of the girls from his community worked as nurses because so many English and French Canadians from neighboring communities were dying. It was noted that none of the Scandinavians, even the nurses became sick. The Scandinavians thought it was because French and English people "were always touching each others."

    • Americans in general are not friendly, unless they are just arrived from overseas. Everyone is individualistic, super selfish and busy working, there's no community and no one gives a crap about anyone else. Maybe it's because it was mainly settled by Nordic immigrants.

    • After watching this we could definitely say that Sweden is just the Japan of Europe

    • Je suis de l'Est de la France. Ma culture n'est pas très "latine" mais j'ai eu l'occasion de côtoyer des gens du sud de la France. Ils vous disent facilement : "je t'aime, je t'adore, on sera toujours amis" ou "tu me manqueras beaucoup" et après : plus AUCUNE nouvelle, un silence de mort.
      Je ne sais pas comment sont les latins des autres pays mais en France, les gens du sud sont connus pour leur amitié aussi fausse que démonstrative.

    • @@YvBernard Bonjour, j'habite dans la région de la Loire. Je n'ai pas encore vécu cela, mais je comprends ce que vous dites. J'ai vécu aux États-Unis et les gens sont comme une double épée et trouver de vrais amis, c'est comme gagner à la loterie. Les gens sont vraiment sympathiques mais ils semblent faux.

      J'ai perdu mon mari il y a presque deux ans et cela a été un défi car je vis dans un village très isolé. Se faire des amis ici a été un véritable défi et je ne parle pas correctement français. Je remarque des choses bizarres comme le gaslighting de la part de certaines personnes, mais pour être honnête, ce sont des alcooliques et ils ne peuvent pas s'en empêcher car ils ont été moralement compromis il y a longtemps. La ville me manque.

      Quand je pense au latin, je pense à l’italien, au mexicain, au cubain, etc.

    • And Slavic cultures. I felt that it was very easy to make friends in Serbia even though we barely knew each other.. perhaps it's much different somewhere like Russia, but I feel like Slavic cultures are way friendlier than they're given credit for.

    • @@yespls4184 "I feel like Slavic cultures are way friendlier than they're given credit for."

      Agree!

  • I’m Danish and I don’t have any close friends. Never had. I have a couple whom I see maybe 2-3 times a year. I have friends abroad whom I am in contact with through Whatsapp. It’s sooo hard to make friends here..ones who don’t end up ghosting you or suddenly lose interest in you. It’s been like this all my life.

    • Let's talk. I need to practice my English and I'm interested in Danish culture. 🤞🏻

    • I strongly suggest you try another country!
      Denmark is the coldest country I've ever known...I'm Danish as you but, have absolutely no intention coming back. This due to the coldness and not least direct hate, coming from toxic Danes, who imagine (don"t know) how other people are and, when they've imagined and lied about other people long enough, the lies become their "knowledge".....I remember being told over there that, climate doesn't have any influence on the human mind...hm, really Danes!?
      If I was you, I would move closer to the Ecuator where people are more open minded, curious and friendly....
      Alt godt og, held og lykke paa din rejse gennem livet!!

    • Vow… I had no idea it was this bad in Denmark. Have you tried making friends with some of the immigrants there? I think you will have better luck with non-Danes.

    • @@shidehhafezi6826 Actually I did make friends with some expats but also lost contact with them. It was pretty obvious that they didn’t want to hang out with me anymore so I stopped contacting them.

  • As a Swedish person i can totally agree that it is extremely difficult making friends here.
    I am now 27 years old and had only a few good friends in my own country while growing up.
    Most of my friends have either families of their own or have moved abroad to work (following their dreams)
    My Best friend passed away 2018 and I've been lonely since.
    💭

    • I am very sorry to hear that your best friend passed away when you have only few good friends around you to start with. Hope you are ok. Ex Sri Lankan living in Sydney Australia. To be honest from my own experience all the Nordic people who I talked to are the most genuine and *intelligent* people I have ever met. US is the last. I wish you well!

    • The interesting thing is the fact that although Sweden offers a high quality of living, why do Swedish people move abroad to work. Can you give some explanation ?

    • @@bugra320 For the same reasons mentioned in this video - loneliness/difficulty in building friendships/relationships. I have several friends in Northern Europe who have moved to (and wish to move to) Latin/Asian countries.

    • MOVE TO AFRICA TO ENJOY LIFE WITH PEOPLE OF YOUR CHOICE OVER THERE YOUR DREAMS WILL COME THROUGH IF YOU ARE WISE ENOUGH TO TAKE A BOLD STEPS SHY IS YOUR LIMIT

    • @@Ghostrider-ul7xnyup take a trip to latin america or asia, you would probably get food poisoning BUT tons of friends

  • I lived in Sweden for six months and I had many Swedish friends. The secret is to find some club, either dancing, reading, cinema, etc. Also, it helps if the Swede has either lived abroad or has foreign parents. This is my five cents.

    • When you go to america,africa and asia making friends is as easy as breathing...just by being yourself...no secrets involved...good to have a great wellfare system and high safety but this demonstrate there ain't no such perfect or totaly happy place so i definitely do not agree with stats claiming scandinavia to be the happiest counties...just a matter of choice on what one needs

    • I’m Swedish and I totally agree. I don’t think it’s harder making friends in Sweden than in other countries. The trick is to join a sport or find an activity that you like which you share with others. I think many people come to Sweden thinking that they don’t need to speak Swedish because Swedes speak fluent English. While that might be true you are never going to form deeper friendships with people in Sweden if you don’t speak Swedish. Because if you don’t speak Swedish you can’t take part of Swedish culture. Indulging yourself into Swedish culture and habits is necessary if you want to form deeper friendships. I also feel like people have way too high expectations when in comes to making friends. People expect others people to do all the work for them. As soon as they move to a new country they expect the locals to have the desire to become close friends with them. Sometimes that is the case, but mostly likely the locals already have friends and might not be super willing to make new friends. In order to make friends when moving to a new country you have to be willing to get outside you comfort zone and indulge yourself into the culture and habits of the country you’re moving to. That is how you make deep friendships. Deeper friendships are not something that’s going to form over a night. Getting real close and personal with people takes time. So you have to be persistent and patient. Forming deep friendship takes months and sometimes even years, but it will be worth it in the long run.

  • As an Italian in his thirties in Sweden I agree that it can be difficult to make friends here. Especially with Sweds. But I am also aware I am the most extrovert person ever.

    For sure the language is a reason, because even if there is no problem using English, the "small talk" is carried out mostly on Swedish.

    Another reason, as stated in the video, it is very difficult to be included in the group, so for example if the person is a colleague, you remain in the colleague category for the afterwork Fika or events, but nothing more.

    Another thing I have seen so far, that made me a bit sad, is that by doing so, most of the foreigners just stick to hanging out with those from the same country and avoiding learning from the other cultures. I came here because I wanted to see how things work in another country, if I wanted to be surrounded by Italians, I would have just stayed at home.

    But what I understood so far, is that Sweds like good food, so organising dinners, especially when cooking Italian/Mediterranean dishes, brings everyone together.

    • it is very weird and it also explains the very different odd sort of people Swedes are. But individually it can differ. But I think also most of immigrants are very affected by the introverted society it must be something in the atmosphere. Its of course a growing ground for corruption not accepting new people in wich also is unfolding.

    • Ok, as a half-Swede, half-Italian, I mean yes, definitely much easier to make friends in Italy. Actually even if you speak Swedish in Sweden, and Italian in Italy. There are ways to get friends in Sweden though, and that is to be part of any kind of association or sub-culture about anything you are passionate about. Swedes are huge on association life of all kinds, if things are like formally organised you are kind of part of the same "club" and barriers are suddenly gone. It can be a sports club, political activism, study circle, charities, rave parties, board games, motorcycling, anything around music, hiking, parcour, sailing, salsa-dancing, kite surfing , burning man, etc, and yes something around food too.
      Universities in Sweden work like this sort of formal club that breaks barriers too. In Sweden typically you move home to live by the university, and social activities are super well organised so you get really close to your study mates who often become friends for life. In Italy university students keep much stronger ties with their family. Have a friend from Verona who studied in Trento and naturally went home every weekend. When I studied in Sweden, I went home like twice a year, and university was more of an all-encompassing experience.

    • @@martinsjogren4366 ok så man kanske ska gå med i en förening eller nåt sånt. Kyrkorna är också ett tips.

    • You say you are probably " the most extrovert person ever " ?
      Basically that means " the most annoying person ever ". Probably explains why you have no friends...?

    • I am originally Turkish living in the U.S. for a long time. I have a buddy from Napoli. This guy is also a social monkey with an endless contact list on his phone. And he tells me, he doesn’t have one American friend. I don’t believe Sweden can beat US in terms of fake conversations and superficiality

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