This is the happiest country in the world
Do you think South Africa made the list of the happiest countries?
Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the seventh consecutive year, as shown by 2024's World Happiness Report.
The findings use responses from 140 nations that are analysed by some of the world's leading well-being scientists.
Although Finland and other Nordic countries like Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway all remain in the top 10, there were positive movements in some other nations.
Serbia (37th) and Bulgaria (81st) have had the most significant increase in overall happiness between the World Happiness Report 2013 and this 2024 edition.
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The following two countries showing the largest increases in life evaluations are Latvia (46th) and Congo (Brazzaville) (89th).
Unfortunately for the United States of America, the country has dropped out of the top 20 since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012.
Afghanistan also remains the unhappiest country, as it ranked last overall.
This was also the first time the report released empirical data based on age, which showed those born before 1965 are, on average, happier than those born since 1980.
Here are the top 20 happiest countries in the world:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia
11. New Zealand
12. Costa Rica
13. Kuwait
14. Austria
15. Canada
16. Belgium
17. Ireland
18. Czechia
19. Lithuania
20. United Kingdom
Here are the top 10 unhappiest countries in the world:
134. Zambia
135. Eswatini
136. Malawi
137. Botswana
138. Zimbabwe
139. Congo
140. Sierra Leone
141. Lesotho
142. Lebanon
143. Afghanistan
How is happiness measured?
According to the annual World Happiness Report report, rankings are mainly based on findings from the Gallup World Poll in cooperation with the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
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The reports show data based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives, and experts from the fields of economics, psychology, and sociology then evaluate this data.
These evaluations are based on six key variables:
- Income (GDP per capita)
- Healthy life expectancy
- Social support
- Freedom to make life choices
- Generosity
- Freedom from corruption
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