Ranking Happiness

I recently read a report from “Happier Lives Institute” listing the top 25 happiest countries in the world.

The ranking is based on a single life evaluation question called the Cantril Ladder. Basically it’s a rating people give to their happiness in life with 0 being the worst life possible and 10 being the best life possible. Happiness was based on six criteria – GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom, social support, generosity and perception of corruption. About 149,000 people across 140 countries were asked how they would rate their happiness and here are the top 25.

Finland
Denmark
Iceland
Sweden
Netherlands
Costa Rica
Norway
Israel
Luxembourg
Mexico
Australia
New Zealand
Switzerland
Belgium
Ireland
Lithuania
Austria
Canada
Slovenia
Czechia
United Arab Emirates
Germany
United Kingdom
United States
Belize

The report shows that while richer countries tend to be happier, Latin American countries that made this list show us that income alone does not necessarily make people happier.

Something else they discovered from the report is that the countries who are the most generous are among the happiest countries. There was a definite connection between giving to others and happiness.

The level of kindness expressed in a country also seemed to play a significant role in the level of happiness felt. The kinder people are, the happier they are.

Mexico jumped from 25 to 10 while the United States has consistently fallen in the ranking and is no longer in the top 20.

I can’t say I was shocked to discover that the level of happiness in the U.S. has fallen. Sadly, the current political climate in the U.S. will likely move them even lower in this ranking in 2026.

For comparison, some of the least happiest countries are as follows.