US drops to record low in 2025 World Happiness Report: See global rankings
\The United States is continuing its downward path on the global World Happiness Report, having dropped to a record low on the global rankings list.
Last year, the U.S. fell out of the top 20 for the first time in the report's history, landing at No. 23. The 2025 report, published Thursday, shows Americans dropping another level down to No. 24.
Several organizations conduct the annual report that ranks countries from the most to least overall happiness. Once again, Nordic countries lead the list, dominating the top 4 spots.
The World Happiness Report also shares illuminating information such as the fact that declining joy and social trust is a contributor to a rise of political polarization in the U.S. and parts of Europe.
Here's what to know what about this year's report, including the global rankings and how researchers calculate joy.
Who are the 25 happiest countries?
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Costa Rica
- Norway
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- Ireland
- Lithuania
- Austria
- Canada
- Slovenia
- Czechia
- United Arab Emirates
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Belize
See full global happiness rankings
Costa Rica and Mexico enter the top 10 for first time
Costa Rica and Mexico both made their top 10 debut on the World Happiness Report this year, coming in at the No. 6 and No. 10 spots, respectively.
European nations Lithuania (No. 16), Slovenia (No. 19) and Czechia (No. 20) are continuing upward trends, according to the report.
The report also listed three nations that have improved happiness since the ranking began in 2012: Serbia (No. 31), Bulgaria (No. 81), and Georgia (No. 91).
What increases happiness in countries?
Several factors are linked to overall wellbeing, from meal sharing to income and employment status, according to the report.
The report states that households of four to five people typically enjoy the highest happiness levels in Mexico and Europe, though many people in Europe live on their own. Researchers also suggest that social connections are vital for young adults to avoid the toxic effects of stress.
The report suggests that countries where acts of generosity and kindness are frequent often lead to less despair related deaths such as suicide or drug overdose.
What is the World Happiness Report?
The World Happiness Report is a partnership between Gallup, the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the WHR (World Happiness Report) Editorial Board offering insight on happiness levels globally.
"The World Happiness Report reflects a worldwide demand for more attention to happiness and well-being as criteria for government policy," according to its website. "It reviews the state of happiness in the world today and shows how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness."
How do World Happiness Report researchers measure happiness?
According to the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network, global researchers analyze data from the Gallup World Poll.
The poll gathers responses from over 100,000 people from all around the world.
People in different countries rank their happiness by imagining a ladder with 10 steps. The first and lowest step of the ladder represents the worst of the worst a person's life can be. The tenth and highest step represents a person's best life. Researchers then ask people which step they believe they're on.
World Happiness Report: What factors impact happiness?
The UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network lists six factors that can explain the different levels of happiness.
- Social Support: This is the best predictor of happiness. If people feel like they have at least one person they can reach out to when they're in need, they are more likely to feel secure.
- GDP per capita: This is how much a country produces divided by its population.
- A healthy life expectancy: Researchers look at the physical and mental health of a country's population.
- Freedom to make life choices: This plays a key role in how happy one feels.
- Generosity: This factor looks at how charitable a country's people are.
- Perception of Corruption: How corrupt are a country's government and business policies? This factor looks at both and researchers use what they find to estimate happiness levels.