Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.
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. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.
Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness —the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.
One of the problems with America is if you ask people on the street who’s the happiest country in the world, a good chunk will answer America and not believe this result. I’ve always said the problem with being #1 (or thinking you are) is that you don’t work very hard to improve.
One metric America leads the world in: self-delusion regarding its own performance in every area. How many people say America leads in math, science, health? Don’t get me wrong, in a lot of categories the US is top 20, but very few where we actually are #1. Until this attitude is fixed, we’re not going to see real improvement. RAH RAH RAH USA #1 is nice to whip up a crowd at a rally, but it’s not good for positive ongoing change.
That Pledge of Allegiance shit really worked.
This is a helpful way to break down Nationalism vs Patriotism. Nationalism being a delusional belief that we are the best, and Patriotism being a love for your country and fellow citizen and striving to be the best.
The US shot itself in the foot and now it’s pointed at it’s face.
How shitty are things in India when…
How is Israel even in the top ten? They are truly detached from reality.
If you didn’t put Israel in top ten, it would be considered anti Semitic
The methodology is flawed.
They do ask people how happy they are, but most of the score is from other factors, like GDP, income equality, personal freedoms, etc.It’s definetly a flawed methodology. It implies the certain qualities have the same importance to cultures worldwide. I’m born in Scotland but ethnically Punjabi. I go pakistan and i see extreme poverty and struggle, yet I speak and live with people of different classes and it’s often those who are poor but with community who are happiest (something similar applies to many nations I’ve been) not to say wealth wouldn’t make them happier or live longer, but our current capitalist system is a disease that very very few nations were able to effectively control so that the society benefits (gulf Arabs, Singapore and Nordics) but generally wealth doesn’t make a nation happier unless it’s somewhat fairly distributed
I actually got a call from the survey these are based on. While i dont know how they compile the answers into a score, i felt the questions were quite relevant.
Also, i feel finns score high because we are culturally modest people who enjoy the simple things in life. Are we physiologically experiencing more happiness than others? Maybe not. But we propably score high on measurements of how content people say they are. ”Cant compain”
I think you misunderstood how the report works. The rankings are from people answering the poll using cantril ladder scoring. Then academics try to look at different statistics in that country to try to explain why people gave their country that score. The academics don’t score the countries.
Well the Israelis are definitely really happy.
“I used to be happier like you. Then I took a Trump in the knee…”
As a finn, I can confirm I’m the happiest person in the world for the whole week it’s sunny and doesn’t rain during the summer!
Suomen kesä on kaunis ja vähäluminen.
Also, if you make it through the darkness of November alive, you must have built so much mental resiliency that rest of the year is walk in the park regardless of what happens.
US here.
I’m betting we’ll be outright giddy this year compared to next year.
I don’t think so. Next year being sad will be illegal.
What you don’t want to live in a Christo-fascist dictatorship with no eggs, and lots of measles, where you get sent to Guantanamo Bay for not retweeting Elon Musk’s or Trump’s latest Nazi rant?
I’d like to remind we’re only 3 months in and that’s the scenario we’re looking at.
I don’t have the imagination for what the country will look like by December.
Finland isnt ”happy” but less miserable than other countries. Though our current gov is cutting from the poor and education etc to make economy numbers look better. Worse times are coming.
I am American and can confirm I feel like this.
Serbia winning big with largest increase.
Any Serbians able to weight in on why?
I’d move back to Europe and live there but I’m too worried about Russia.
Distance will not provide you any additional safety when the nukes start flying anyway. Come back and your last time here with us.
There’s no way. It’s dark half the year and every Finnish people I met didn’t look happy at all, or at least they didn’t express it whatsoever.
If seasonal depression is the worst thing your citizens have to deal with, that’s a pretty fucking incredible country imo.
Well, when you are as happy and content as Finland, there is no dark.
Can relate. Am I secretly a Finlandian?
Thats hilarious. I love that about finnish people, its a no bullshit country. Say what you mean, do what you say.
I wonder which US state most closely resembles this. Probably in the NE
Minnesota and Upper peninsula could be closest
Many Finnish people historically immigrated to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Iron Range of northern Minnesota to work in the mining industry; much of the population in these regions is of Finnish descent.
A lot of Mainers or northern New Englanders are like that too. My wife things the North Michiganders talk a lot compared to Mainers.
Oh that’s what we got wrong in Iceland, we should’ve kept that red line out of our flag!
Here’s an old Finnish joke:
Why are people in Finland the happiest people on Earth?
Because all the sad people have killed themselves.It sucks that we still have that reputation abroad. We’re doing a lot better in that front. Also at least 2019 and 2016 our suicide rate was actually lower than the US, where a lot of these jokes come from (I was pretty surprised)
That’s why I said it’s an old Finnish joke.
I lived in Finland long enough to know that the Finns are not really happy. Or unhappy. Or excited. Or anything at all. If they are, they hide it really really well. The only true sentiment I ever felt in the Finns is quiet pride of their country.
Finns are the ones who watch, listen and nod. Surprisingly rare in this world of today.
Yes, I’m more lamenting the reputation abroad where such views take longer to change.
:(
