Happiest Countries in the World Revealed. Kenya Ranked 115

For the eighth consecutive year, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country in the latest World Happiness Report. The report, a collaboration between Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board, ranks nations based on a three-year average of individuals’ self-assessed quality of life.

Nordic countries continue to dominate the top rankings, with Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden securing second, third, and fourth places, respectively. However, the United Kingdom has fallen to 23rd, its lowest position since 2017, while the United States has dropped to an all-time low of 24th. Notably, both countries rank below Israel (8th), despite the ongoing conflict in the region. Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the list, considered the world’s least happy nation, followed by Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

Key findings from the report highlight the significant impact of social connections on well-being. Sharing meals with others is strongly associated with higher happiness levels across the globe. In the US, a 53% increase in people dining alone over the past two decades may be contributing to lower happiness scores. Furthermore, households with four or five members report greater happiness than smaller households. In Europe, where single-person households are prevalent, this trend may negatively affect overall well-being. The report also notes a 39% rise since 2006 in young adults reporting a lack of reliable social support.

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an editor of the World Happiness Report and director of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, emphasized the importance of social factors beyond traditional metrics like health and wealth. “Sharing meals and trusting others are even stronger predictors of wellbeing than expected,” he stated. “In this era of social isolation and political polarisation we need to find ways to bring people around the table again — doing so is critical for our individual and collective wellbeing.”

The report also revealed that trust within communities plays a vital role in happiness. Believing that a lost wallet will be returned is a strong predictor of local happiness. Nordic countries, known for high rates of both expected and actual wallet returns, exemplify this correlation. Interestingly, the report found that people worldwide tend to underestimate the kindness of their communities, with actual wallet return rates being approximately twice as high as perceived.

WORLD’S HAPPIEST COUNTRIES