Finns are still the world’s happiest people. But lonely Americans slide down the rankings
By Kirsten Grieshaber
Finland is the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, while the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position, according to the World Happiness Report 2025.
Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden rounding out the top four spots.
Country rankings were based on answers people gave when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
“If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other,” says Gallup CEO Jon Clifton.Credit: Getty Images
“Happiness isn’t just about wealth or growth – it’s about trust, connection and knowing people have your back,” said Jon Clifton, the CEO of Gallup. “If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other.”
While European countries dominated the top 20 rankings, there were some exceptions. Despite the war with Hamas, Israel came in at eighth. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking sixth and 10th respectively. Australia slipped one rank to 11th.
When it comes to decreasing happiness – or growing unhappiness – the US fell to 24th, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the US has increased 53 per cent over the past two decades.
The United Kingdom, in 23rd spot, reported its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report.
Afghanistan was again ranked the unhappiest country in the world, with Afghan women saying their lives were especially difficult. Sierra Leone in western Africa was the second unhappiest, followed by Lebanon, ranking third to last.
Researchers say that beyond health and wealth, some factors that influence happiness sound deceptively simple: sharing meals with others, having somebody to count on for social support, and household size. In Mexico and Europe, for example, a household size of four to five people predicted the highest levels of happiness, the study said.
Believing in the kindness of others is also much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought, according to the latest findings.
For example, the report suggests that people who believe that others are willing to return their lost wallet is a strong predictor of the overall happiness of a population. Nordic nations ranked among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets, the study found.
Overall, researchers said global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets showed people were much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities – actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect.
All countries are ranked according to their self-assessed life evaluations averaged over 2022 to 2024. Experts in economics, psychology, sociology then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
AP
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