The Happiest Country in the World Is . . . Not the U.S.

Believe it or not, Americans are pretty happy in their lives, relatively speaking.  That said, things are starting to wear on us.

Every year since 2012, Gallup has put out a “World Happiness Report,” which ranks how people in more than 140 countries evaluate the quality of their lives.

And for the EIGHTH year in a row, Finland is #1.

Denmark is #2, Iceland is #3, and the rest of the Top 10 is:  Sweden . . . the Netherlands . . . Costa Rica . . . Norway . . . Israel . . . Luxembourg . . . and Mexico.  So the FIVE major Nordic countries are ALL in the Top 7.

Israel seems strange here, in 2025, but the study is based on surveys from the previous THREE years, and Israel has previously ranked even higher.

The U.S. is #24 out of 147 countries, which isn’t terrible, relatively-speaking . . . but it’s our lowest rank since they’ve been doing this 12 years ago.

We’re just below Slovenia, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany . . . and just ahead of Belize, Poland, and Taiwan. 

Canada is #18.  And with Mexico at #10, it means we’re lower than our neighbors. 

Overall, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Malawi, and Zimbabwe are the countries where people are LEAST satisfied and happy with their lives.  They finished just below Botswana, Congo, Yemen, Comoros, and Lesotho.

(World Happiness Report)

Here’s the chart with this year’s ranking.