Finland maintained its top spot as the world's happiest country for the seventh year, while the United States and Germany dropped out of the top 20, according to an annual U.N.-sponsored index.
The World Happiness Report released Wednesday is the first to include separate rankings by age group and shows low happiness scores among young people in some parts of the world.
Young people in North America were not as happy as older people, which is one of the key reasons that helped knock the United States out of the top 20 for the first time since the report was first published in 2012.
However, the United States and other countries fell in the rankings as well because other nations, particularly several in Eastern Europe, saw improvements in happiness scores.
The report, released on the United Nations International Day of Happiness on March 20, is based on global survey data from more than 140 countries. Nations are ranked on their happiness based on their average life evaluations over the previous three years, which in this case is 2021 to 2023.
Afghanistan remained the world's worst-ranked country for happiness, at 143rd. Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and the Congo also ranked at the bottom.
The report analyzes six key variables to rate life satisfaction: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
Finland, along with its Nordic neighbors, are in first place: Denmark in second place, Iceland in third and Norway in seventh.
Finland, along with its Nordic neighbors, occupy the top positions.
(Getty Images)
Surprisingly, Israel is at 5, in the midst of its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. However, the authors note that the three-year average of the rankings often mutes the effect of “cataclysmic events that occur during a particular year.”
The survey, which was carried out in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank before the events of October 7, puts the Palestinian happiness score at 103.
Holland in 6th place, Luxembourg in 8th, Switzerland in 9th and Australia in 10th complete the top 10.
The United States, at 23, and Germany, at 24, dropped out of the top 20 in part due to an increase in happiness scores in countries such as the Czech Republic at 18, Lithuania at 19, and Slovenia at 21. The United Kingdom is at 20.
On the other hand, Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 at 12th and 13th. India ranked 126th, the same as last year, in the happiness index.
The report noted that younger generations were happier than their older peers in most countries. In North America, Australia and New Zealand, happiness among the under-30 age groups fell sharply from 2006-2010, and older generations are now happier. By contrast, in central and eastern Europe, happiness increased across all ages over the same period.
