The World’s Happiest Countries Revealed And What They Get Right

Heavy societal media engagement is contributing to a stark diminution successful nan well-being of young people, pinch teenage girls successful English-speaking countries and Western Europe experiencing peculiarly worrying effects, according to a caller world report.

The World Happiness Report 2026, published by nan Wellbeing Research Centre astatine nan University of Oxford, highlights a important driblet successful life evaluations among under-25s crossed nan United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand complete nan past decade.

It powerfully suggests that prolonged hours spent scrolling done societal media platforms are a cardinal facet successful this concerning trend.

Meanwhile, nan yearly study erstwhile again crowns Finland arsenic nan world's happiest federation for nan ninth consecutive year. Other Nordic countries, including Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, consistently characteristic among nan apical ten.

In a notable shift, Costa Rica has made a important leap into nan apical five, securing 4th spot this twelvemonth aft climbing from 23rd position successful 2023.

The study attributes that to well-being boosts from family bonds and different societal connections.

“We deliberation it’s because of nan value of their societal lives and nan stableness that they presently enjoy,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an Oxford economics professor who directs nan Wellbeing Research Centre and co-edits nan World Happiness Report.

“Latin America much mostly has beardown family ties, beardown societal ties, a awesome level of societal capital, arsenic a sociologist would telephone it, much truthful than successful different places,” he added.

The study said Finland and nan different Northern European countries’ dependable ranking connected apical is related to a operation of wealth, its adjacent distribution, having a use authorities that protects group from nan risks of recessions, and a patient life expectancy.

As successful erstwhile years, nations successful aliases adjacent zones of awesome conflict stay astatine nan ft of nan rankings. Afghanistan is classed arsenic nan unhappiest state again, followed by Sierra Leone and Malawi successful Africa.

Country rankings were based connected answers fixed by astir 100,000 group successful 140 countries and territories who were asked to complaint their ain lives. The study was done successful business pinch nan analytics patient Gallup and nan U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

In astir countries, astir 1,000 group are contacted by telephone aliases face-to-face each year.

Respondents were asked to measure their lives connected a standard from 0 to 10. Among under-25s successful English-speaking and Western European countries, that people dropped by almost 1 constituent complete nan past decade.

The study said nan antagonistic relationship betwixt well-being and extended societal media usage is peculiarly concerning among teenage girls. For example, it said that 15-year-old girls who usage societal media for 5 hours aliases much reported a driblet successful life satisfaction, compared to others who usage it less.

Young group who usage societal media for little than 1 hr per time study nan highest levels of well-being, researchers said, higher than those who do not usage societal media astatine all. But adolescents are spending an estimated mean of 2.5 hours a time connected societal media.

“It is clear that we should look arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable to put nan ‘social’ backmost into societal media,” De Neve said.

Researchers noted that successful immoderate parts of nan world, specified arsenic nan Middle East and South America, nan links betwixt societal media usage and well-being are much affirmative — and younker well-being has not fallen contempt dense societal media use.

The study said this is owed to galore factors that disagree betwixt continents, but concluded that dense societal media usage successful immoderate countries is an important contributing facet to nan diminution successful younker well-being.

It said nan astir problematic platforms are those pinch algorithmic feeds, characteristic influencers and wherever nan main worldly is visual, because they promote societal comparisons. Those who usage platforms that chiefly facilitate connection do better.

The 2026 rankings people nan 2nd twelvemonth successful a statement that nary of nan English-speaking countries look successful nan apical 10. The United States is astatine 23rd place, Canada is astatine 25th and Britain astatine 29th.

The report, pinch its attraction connected societal media, comes astatine a clip erstwhile much and much countries person banned aliases are considering bans of societal media for minors.