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World Happiness Ranking 2024

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Happiest Countries in the World 2024

Snapshot

  • Happiness is measured using six categories including GDP per capita, social support, and healthy life expectancy, among others.

  • Northern European countries dominate the top of the happiness rankings, reflecting strong social support systems and high standards of living.

  • Finland is ranked as the happiest country in the world in 2021, with Denmark and Switzerland following closely behind.

Since 2002, the World Happiness Report has used statistical analysis to determine the world's happiest countries. In its 2021 update, the report concluded that Finland is the happiest country in the world. To determine the world's happiest country, researchers analyzed comprehensive Gallup polling data from 149 countries for the past three years, specifically monitoring performance in six particular categories: gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make your own life choices, generosity of the general population, and perceptions of internal and external corruption levels.

In order to properly compare each country's data, the researchers created a fictional country—christened Dystopia—filled with "the world's least-happy people." They then set Dystopia as the rock bottom value in each of the six categories and measured the scores of the real-world countries against this value. All six variables were then blended to create a single combined score for each country. Interestingly enough, the top seven happiest countries in the world for 2021 were all Northern European countries. Finland took top honors—for the fourth year in a row—with an overall score of 7.842, followed (in order) by Denmark (7.620), Switzerland (7.571), Iceland (7.554), the Netherlands (7.464), Norway (7.392), and Sweden (7.363).

The least happy country in the world for 2021 was Afghanistan, whose 149th-place ranking of 2.523 can be attributed in part to a low life expectancy rate and low gross domestic product rates per capita. It's worthwhile to note that the report was released before the recent Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, which will undoubtedly impact future scores in one way or another. Rounding out the bottom five are Zimbabwe (3.145), Rwanda (3.415), Botswana (3.467), and Lesotho (3.512).

Country
World Happiness Report Score 2023
Finland 7.80
Denmark 7.59
Iceland 7.53
Israel 7.47
Netherlands 7.40
Sweden 7.39
Norway 7.32
Switzerland 7.24
Luxembourg 7.23
New Zealand 7.12

The Top 7 Happiest Countries in the World (plus an inspiring honorable mention) for 2021:

Finland

Finland ranks as the world's happiest country based on the 2021 report, with a score of 7.842 out of a total possible score of 10. The report writers credited the citizens of Finland's strong feelings of communal support and mutual trust with not only helping secure the #1 ranking, but (more importantly) helping the country as a whole navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Finlanders felt strongly that they were free to make their own choices, and showed minimal suspicion of government corruption. Both of these factors are strong contributors to overall happiness.

Denmark

The second-happiest country in the world is Denmark, which scores 7.620. Denmark's values for each of the six variables are quite comparable to those of Finland. In fact, Denmark even outscored the leader in multiple categories, including GDP per capita, generosity, and perceived lack of corruption, demonstrating that it may claim the top spot sometime in the near future.

Switzerland

As the third-happiest country in the world, Switzerland scored a total of 7.571 out of 10. In general, the Swiss are very healthy, with one of the world's lowest obesity rates and a long life expectancy. The Swiss also have a very high median salary, about 75% higher than that of the United States, and the highest GDP per capita in the top seven. Additionally, there is a strong sense of community in Switzerland and a firm belief that it is a safe and clean country—which is statistically true. Along with Iceland and Denmark, Switzerland is one of the world's safest countries.

Iceland

Iceland ranks as 2021's fourth-happiest country in the entire world, with a total score of 7.554. Of the top seven happiest countries around the globe, Iceland has the highest feeling of social support (higher even than Finland, Norway, and Denmark, which all tied for second place). Iceland also had the second-highest generosity score in the top seven, though it's worth noting that it ranked only 11th worldwide.

Netherlands

Edging out Norway for the honor of fifth-happiest country in the world is the Netherlands (also known as Holland to many tulip lovers), with a score of 7.464. The Netherlands scored higher in the generosity category than any other top-seven country and also displayed an impressive lack of perceived corruption.

Norway

The citizens of sixth-place Norway (7.392) feel they are being well cared for by their government thanks to universal healthcare and free college tuition. Norwegians also enjoy a healthy work-life balance, working an average of 38 hours per week vs. 41.5. hours per week in the United States. Additionally, Norway has a low crime rate and a strong sense of community among its citizens—a quality it shares with many of the top seven.

Sweden

Seventh-place Sweden (7.363) ranks high, if not quite highest, in virtually every category measured. For example: Sweden has a higher lack of corruption score than all but four countries worldwide (two of which are Finland and Denmark), the fourteenth-highest GDP per capita of all 149 countries measured, and the fourth-highest life expectancy in the top seven.

Honorable Mention: Bhutan

Bhutan was excluded from the 2021 report due to a technicality: Each country's scores are based upon detailed Gallup polls, but Gallup did not conduct polling in Bhutan during the required timeframe. However, the report's writers made a special effort to pay tribute to Bhutan, saying it "once again provided an inspiring example for the world about how to combine health and happiness. They made explicit use of the principles of Gross National Happiness in mobilizing the whole population in collaborative efforts to avoid even a single COVID-19 death in 2020, despite having strong international travel links." Impressive indeed. If Gallup begins polling in Bhutan, Northern Europe's hold on happiness may soon have competition.

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Country
World Happiness Ranking 2024
World Happiness Score 2024
Score Change
World Happiness Report Rankings 2023
World Happiness Report Score 2023
World Happiness Report Rankings 2022
World Happiness Report Score 2022
Finland 1 7.74 -0.06 1 7.80 1 7.82
Denmark 2 7.58 -0.01 2 7.59 2 7.64
Iceland 3 7.53 0.00 3 7.53 3 7.56
Sweden 4 7.34 -0.05 6 7.39 7 7.38
Israel 5 7.34 -0.13 4 7.47 9 7.36
Netherlands 6 7.32 -0.08 5 7.40 5 7.42
Norway 7 7.30 -0.02 7 7.32 8 7.37
Luxembourg 8 7.12 -0.11 9 7.23 6 7.40
Switzerland 9 7.06 -0.18 8 7.24 4 7.51
Australia 10 7.06 -0.04 12 7.09 12 7.16
New Zealand 11 7.03 -0.09 10 7.12 10 7.20
Costa Rica 12 6.96 0.35 23 6.61 23 6.58
Kuwait 13 6.95 NaN 50 6.11
Austria 14 6.91 -0.19 11 7.10 11 7.16
Canada 15 6.90 -0.06 13 6.96 15 7.03
Belgium 16 6.89 0.03 17 6.86 19 6.80
Ireland 17 6.84 -0.07 14 6.91 13 7.04
Czech Republic 18 6.82 -0.02 18 6.84 18 6.92
Lithuania 19 6.82 0.06 20 6.76 34 6.45
United Kingdom 20 6.75 -0.05 19 6.80 17 6.94
Slovenia 21 6.74 0.09 22 6.65 22 6.63
United Arab Emirates 22 6.73 0.16 26 6.57 24 6.58
United States 23 6.73 -0.16 15 6.89 16 6.98
Germany 24 6.72 -0.17 16 6.89 14 7.03
Mexico 25 6.68 0.35 36 6.33 46 6.13
Uruguay 26 6.61 0.12 28 6.49 30 6.47
France 27 6.61 -0.05 21 6.66 20 6.69
Saudi Arabia 28 6.59 0.13 30 6.46 25 6.52
Singapore 30 6.52 -0.07 25 6.59 27 6.48
Taiwan 31 6.50 -0.04 27 6.54 26 6.51
Romania 32 6.49 -0.10 24 6.59 28 6.48
El Salvador 33 6.47 0.35 50 6.12 49 6.12
Estonia 34 6.45 -0.00 31 6.46 36 6.34
Poland 35 6.44 0.18 39 6.26 48 6.12
Spain 36 6.42 -0.02 32 6.44 29 6.48
Serbia 37 6.41 0.27 45 6.14 43 6.18
Chile 38 6.36 0.03 35 6.33 44 6.17
Panama 39 6.36 0.10 38 6.26 37 6.31
Malta 40 6.35 0.05 37 6.30 33 6.45
Italy 41 6.32 -0.08 33 6.41 31 6.47
Guatemala 42 6.29 0.14 43 6.15 39 6.26
Nicaragua 43 6.28 0.02 40 6.26 45 6.17
Brazil 44 6.27 0.14 49 6.13 38 6.29
Slovakia 45 6.26 -0.21 29 6.47 35 6.39
Latvia 46 6.23 0.02 41 6.21 42 6.18
Uzbekistan 47 6.20 0.19 54 6.01 53 6.06
Argentina 48 6.19 0.17 52 6.02 57 5.97
Kazakhstan 49 6.19 0.05 44 6.14 40 6.23
Cyprus 50 6.07 -0.06 46 6.13 41 6.22
Japan 51 6.06 -0.07 47 6.13 54 6.04
South Korea 52 6.06 0.11 57 5.95 59 5.93
Philippines 53 6.05 0.53 76 5.52 60 5.90
Vietnam 54 6.04 0.28 65 5.76 77 5.49
Portugal 55 6.03 0.06 56 5.97 56 6.02
Hungary 56 6.02 -0.02 51 6.04 51 6.09
Paraguay 57 5.98 0.24 66 5.74 73 5.58
Thailand 58 5.98 0.14 60 5.84 61 5.89
Malaysia 59 5.98 -0.03 55 6.01 70 5.71
China 60 5.97 0.15 64 5.82 72 5.58
Honduras 61 5.97 -0.05 53 6.02 55 6.02
Bahrain 62 5.96 -0.21 42 6.17 21 6.65
Croatia 63 5.94 -0.18 48 6.13 47 6.13
Greece 64 5.93 -0.00 58 5.93 58 5.95
Bosnia and Herzegovina 65 5.88 0.25 71 5.63 67 5.77
Libya 66 5.87 NaN 86 5.33
Jamaica 67 5.84 0.14 68 5.70 63 5.85
Peru 68 5.84 0.31 75 5.53 74 5.56
Dominican Republic 69 5.82 0.25 73 5.57 69 5.74
Mauritius 70 5.82 -0.08 59 5.90 52 6.07
Moldova 71 5.82 0.00 63 5.82 62 5.86
Russia 72 5.79 0.13 70 5.66 80 5.46
Bolivia 73 5.78 0.10 69 5.68 71 5.60
Ecuador 74 5.73 0.17 74 5.56 76 5.55
Montenegro 75 5.71 -0.01 67 5.72 75 5.55
Mongolia 77 5.70 -0.14 61 5.84 68 5.76
Colombia 78 5.70 0.07 72 5.63 66 5.78
Venezuela 79 5.61 0.40 88 5.21 108 4.92
Indonesia 80 5.57 0.29 84 5.28 87 5.24
Bulgaria 81 5.46 -0.01 77 5.47 85 5.37
Armenia 82 5.46 0.12 79 5.34 82 5.40
South Africa 83 5.42 0.14 85 5.28 91 5.19
North Macedonia 84 5.37 0.12 87 5.25 89 5.20
Algeria 85 5.36 0.03 81 5.33 96 5.12
Hong Kong 86 5.32 0.01 82 5.31 81 5.42
Albania 87 5.30 0.02 83 5.28 90 5.20
Tajikistan 88 5.28 -0.05 80 5.33 83 5.38
Republic of the Congo 89 5.22 -0.05 86 5.27 99 5.08
Mozambique 90 5.22 0.27 97 4.95 101 5.05
Georgia 91 5.19 0.08 90 5.11 105 4.97
Iraq 92 5.17 0.23 98 4.94 107 4.94
Nepal 93 5.16 -0.20 78 5.36 84 5.38
Laos 94 5.14 0.03 89 5.11 95 5.14
Gabon 95 5.11 0.08 94 5.04 106 4.96
Ivory Coast 96 5.08 0.03 93 5.05 88 5.24
Guinea 97 5.02 -0.05 91 5.07 109 4.89
Turkey 98 4.98 0.37 106 4.61 112 4.74
Senegal 99 4.97 0.11 102 4.86 103 5.05
Iran 100 4.92 0.04 101 4.88 110 4.89
Azerbaijan 101 4.89 NaN 92 5.17
Nigeria 102 4.88 -0.10 95 4.98 118 4.55
Palestine 103 4.88 -0.03 99 4.91 122 4.48
Cameroon 104 4.87 -0.10 96 4.97 102 5.05
Ukraine 105 4.87 -0.20 92 5.07 98 5.08
Namibia 106 4.83 0.20 105 4.63 124 4.46
Morocco 107 4.80 -0.10 100 4.90 100 5.06
Pakistan 108 4.66 0.11 108 4.55 121 4.52
Niger 109 4.56 0.06 109 4.50 104 5.00
Burkina Faso 110 4.55 -0.09 104 4.64 113 4.67
Mauritania 111 4.51 -0.21 103 4.72 133 4.15
Gambia 112 4.49 0.21 119 4.28 93 5.16
Chad 113 4.47 0.07 114 4.40 130 4.25
Kenya 114 4.47 -0.02 111 4.49 119 4.54
Tunisia 115 4.42 -0.08 110 4.50 120 4.52
Benin 116 4.38 0.01 116 4.37 115 4.62
Uganda 117 4.37 -0.06 113 4.43 117 4.60
Myanmar 118 4.35 -0.02 117 4.37 126 4.39
Cambodia 119 4.34 -0.05 115 4.39 114 4.64
Ghana 120 4.29 -0.32 107 4.61 111 4.87
Liberia 121 4.27 0.23 125 4.04 97 5.12
Mali 122 4.23 0.03 120 4.20 123 4.48
Madagascar 123 4.23 0.21 127 4.02 128 4.34
Togo 124 4.21 0.07 122 4.14 135 4.11
Jordan 125 4.19 0.07 123 4.12 134 4.15
India 126 4.05 0.01 126 4.04 136 3.78
Egypt 127 3.98 -0.19 121 4.17 129 4.29
Sri Lanka 128 3.90 -0.54 112 4.44 127 4.36
Bangladesh 129 3.89 -0.39 118 4.28 94 5.16
Ethiopia 130 3.86 -0.23 124 4.09 131 4.24
Tanzania 131 3.78 0.09 129 3.69 139 3.70
Comoros 132 3.57 0.02 130 3.54 116 4.61
Yemen 133 3.56 NaN 132 4.20
Zambia 134 3.50 -0.48 128 3.98 137 3.76
Eswatini 135 3.50 NaN 125 4.40
Malawi 136 3.42 -0.08 131 3.50 138 3.75
Botswana 137 3.38 -0.06 132 3.44 142 3.47
Zimbabwe 138 3.34 0.14 134 3.20 144 3.00
DR Congo 139 3.30 0.09 133 3.21
Sierra Leone 140 3.25 0.11 135 3.14 140 3.57
Lesotho 141 3.19 NaN 141 3.51
Lebanon 142 2.71 0.32 136 2.39 145 2.96
Afghanistan 143 1.72 -0.14 137 1.86 146 2.40
Sudan NaN
Angola NaN
North Korea NaN
Syria NaN
Somalia NaN
Rwanda NaN 143 3.27
Burundi NaN
Haiti NaN
South Sudan NaN
Cuba NaN
Papua New Guinea NaN
Belarus NaN 65 5.82
Kyrgyzstan NaN 62 5.83 64 5.83
Turkmenistan NaN 78 5.47
Central African Republic NaN
Oman NaN
Eritrea NaN
Puerto Rico NaN
Qatar NaN
Guinea Bissau NaN
Equatorial Guinea NaN
Trinidad and Tobago NaN
Timor Leste NaN
Djibouti NaN
Reunion NaN
Fiji NaN
Guyana NaN
Bhutan NaN
Solomon Islands NaN
Macau NaN
Suriname NaN
Cape Verde NaN
Western Sahara NaN
Maldives NaN
Brunei NaN
Belize NaN
Bahamas NaN
Guadeloupe NaN
Martinique NaN
Mayotte NaN
Vanuatu NaN
French Guiana NaN
French Polynesia NaN
New Caledonia NaN
Barbados NaN
Sao Tome and Principe NaN
Samoa NaN
Curacao NaN
Saint Lucia NaN
Guam NaN
Kiribati NaN
Grenada NaN
Micronesia NaN
Jersey NaN
Tonga NaN
Seychelles NaN
Aruba NaN
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines NaN
United States Virgin Islands NaN
Antigua and Barbuda NaN
Isle of Man NaN
Andorra NaN
Dominica NaN
Cayman Islands NaN
Bermuda NaN
Guernsey NaN
Greenland NaN
Faroe Islands NaN
Northern Mariana Islands NaN
Saint Kitts and Nevis NaN
Turks and Caicos Islands NaN
Sint Maarten NaN
American Samoa NaN
Marshall Islands NaN
Liechtenstein NaN
Monaco NaN
San Marino NaN
Gibraltar NaN
Saint Martin NaN
British Virgin Islands NaN
Palau NaN
Cook Islands NaN
Anguilla NaN
Nauru NaN
Tuvalu NaN
Wallis and Futuna NaN
Saint Barthelemy NaN
Saint Pierre and Miquelon NaN
Montserrat NaN
Falkland Islands NaN
Niue NaN
Tokelau NaN
Vatican City NaN
showing: 234 rows

What are the top 10 happiest countries in the world?

The top ten happiest countries in the world are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and New Zealand.

What is the happiest country in the world?

According to a global evaluation conducted by Gallup World Poll, Finland reigns supreme as the happiest country in the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. World Happiness Report 2022
  2. World Happiness Report 2023

Sources