The World’s Happiest Countries Have Been Revealed—Here’s Where the US Stands

For the ninth year in a row, Finland has been ranked the world's happiest country, according to the 2026 edition of the World Happiness Report.

The report is based on survey responses from more than 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories who rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being the worst and 10 the best. Finns reported an average score of 7.764 (out of 10). The Scandinavian nation was followed closely by Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, and Sweden. The United States came in at 23rd, up one spot from last year.

Costa Rica climbed to its best-ever position in 4th place, continuing a rise from a low of 23rd in 2023; it's the first Latin American country to crack the top five. None of the English-speaking countries, including New Zealand (11th), Ireland (13th), Australia (15th), the United States (23rd), Canada (25th), and the UK (29th) appear in the top 10, with only half in the top 20.

In addition to the rankings, the report breaks down six key variables, including gross domestic product (GDP), social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption to account for the variations across countries and over time, but these factors are not used to determine the overall happiness rankings.

John F. Helliwell, emeritus professor of economics at the University of British Columbia and a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, said in a statement to the Wellbeing Research Centre: “When it comes to happiness, building what is good in life is more important than finding and fixing what is bad. Both need doing, now more than ever.”

The Top 20 Happiest Countries in the World

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Costa Rica
5. Sweden
6. Norway
7. Netherlands
8. Israel
9. Luxembourg
10. Switzerland
11. New Zealand
12. Mexico
13. Ireland
14. Belgium
15. Australia
16. Kosovo
17. Germany
18. Slovenia
19. Austria
20. Czechia

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This year, the report placed a special focus on the ongoing debate around social media usage, particularly among children and young people. The report found that life evaluations among those under 25 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. have dropped dramatically (by almost one point on the 0-10 scale) over the past decade, while the average among young people in the rest of the world has increased.

Heavy social media use appears to be contributing to this drop in well-being, especially among girls, according to the findings, which are analyzed by an international team of experts in well-being science.

The report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an independent editorial board.