The United States has dropped to its lowest ranking ever in the World Happiness Report, coming in at No. 24.
The annual report, released on the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness, surveys residents in more than 140 countries on their quality of life. The U.S. fell out of the top 20 for the first time last year and continues to slide downward in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Finland retained its title as the world’s happiest nation for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Mexico and Costa Rica made the top 10 for the first time.
“They’re wealthy, they’re healthy, they have strong social ties, and they maintain a deep connection with nature,” Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an economics professor at Oxford University and editor of the report, told Fortune about the Finnish people. “They’re not overly expressive, but they’re deeply content with their lives.”
The world’s 10 happiest countries, in descending order:
• Finland
• Denmark
• Iceland
• Sweden
• Netherlands
• Costa Rica
• Norway
• Israel
• Luxembourg
• Mexico
The report points to economic inequality as a key reason for America’s ranking. Though the U.S. boasts a high GDP per capita, its wealth distribution is more uneven and Americans report lower levels of social cohesion, it says.
“In the Nordic countries, a rising tide lifts all boats,” Mr. De Neve added.
The World Happiness Report uses data from the Gallup World Poll, in which respondents rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10, a method known as the “Cantril Ladder.”
To understand the self-assessments, researchers analyze six key factors: economic prosperity, social connections, longevity, personal freedoms, generosity, and trust in public institutions or lack thereof.
One of the other strongest predictors of happiness is trust in others, which the U.N. researchers noted has faced a steady decline in the U.S. for some years. Many unhappy people, they say, underestimate how often lost wallets are returned, but in reality, they’re recovered at nearly double the rate people assume.
Happy people, researchers say, are busy doing activities that build trust with their fellow citizens on a day-to-day basis.
“They spend time dining with others, maintaining friendships and their social lives aren’t dominated by screens,” Mr. De Neve said. “We see that reflected in the data.”
In July 2024, when the survey was conducted, America faced a few destabilizing political events that could well have impacted the nation’s well-being.
That month, an assassination attempt on then-former President Trump occurred during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania led to increased political tension. And now former President Joseph R. Biden withdrew from the presidential race following a challenging debate performance, thrusting the Democratic Party into electoral turmoil.
At the bottom of the rankings, the world’s unhappiest countries suffer from ongoing conflict, economic crises and weak social institutions. The report revealed that the least happy countries are in the Middle East and Africa (in descending order):
• Afghanistan
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Sierra Leone
• Congo
But John Helliwell, a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, told CNN that happiness isn’t a fixed metric. In fact, there’s a simple fix, one that’s based on data.
“Look seriously at the people with whom you are working, with whom you are living, who are on your streets, and put on a rosier set of glasses when you’re dealing with them,” Mr. Helliwell said. “And that’ll change your behavior in traffic. It’ll change your behavior in political discussions. It’ll change everything.”
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