World Happiness Report
What is the World Happiness Report?
Every year, the UN releases the World Happiness Report, which ranks countries by how happy their citizens are.
People are asked to rate their own lives on a scale from 0–10. The average score becomes that country's happiness score.
The report has been published since 2012 and covers over 150 countries.
Happiest Countries (2015)
These are the top 7 countries from the 2015 dataset. They are almost all located in Western Europe.
| Rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | 7.587 |
| 2 | Iceland | 7.561 |
| 3 | Denmark | 7.527 |
| 4 | Norway | 7.522 |
| 5 | Canada | 7.427 |
| 6 | Finland | 7.406 |
What Makes Countries Happy?
The report measures 6 factors that explain differences in happiness between countries:
- GDP per capita (wealth)
- Social support
- Healthy life expectancy
- Freedom to make choices
- Generosity
- Low corruption
Why is the US Falling?
The US ranked #11 in 2012 but dropped to #23 in 2024. For Americans under 30, the rank is even lower at #62.
Researchers say the reasons are rising loneliness, less trust in government, and growing inequality.
What Can We Learn?
The data shows that money alone does not make a country happy. Social trust, strong communities, and good government matter just as much.
Switzlerand succeeds not just because it is wealthy, but because its citizens trust each other and their institutions.