The United States has fallen to its lowest happiness ranking ever, according to the annual World Happiness Report released Thursday to mark the International Day of Happiness.
The United States’ 24th place is its lowest ranking since the report was first published in 2012, when it ranked as high as 11th.
This year, Germany overtook the US, improving from 24th to 22nd in the index.
Meanwhile, Finland has been ranked as the country with the happiest population in the world for the eighth year in a row. Finns asked to evaluate their lives gave an average score of 7.736 (out of 10).
The Nordic countries were all in the top 10, with Finland followed by Denmark in second place, Iceland in third, and Sweden in fourth, as was the case last year. Norway came in seventh.
Europe dominates in happiness rankings
While European nations dominated the top 20 places, there were some exceptions.
Israel came in at eighth place despite the war with Hamas, while South American countries Costa Rica and Mexico ranked sixth and 10th respectively.
The happiest Asian country is Singapore, while the happiest place in sub-Saharan Africa is the island nation of Mauritius.
The World Happiness Report is a global study that ranks countries according to the happiness of their populations.
The happiness researchers, who asked people around the world to rate their lives, identified several key factors that generally make people happier, such as social support, income, health, freedom and perceptions of corruption.
Less well-being as more Americans eat alone
The report said the growing number of people eating alone is one reason for the decline in well-being in the United States. It added that in 2023, about one in four Americans reported eating all their meals alone the previous day.
“The number of people dining alone in the United States has increased by 53% over the past two decades,” the researchers said, noting that sharing meals “is strongly linked with well-being.”
The report also noted that the United States was one of the few countries to see an increase in so-called “deaths of despair” (from suicide or substance abuse) at a time when such deaths are declining in most countries.
The report surveyed people worldwide in 2022-2024, before US President Donald Trump‘s return to the White House in January, which has since shaken up national and global affairs.
Unhappiest countries mostly in Africa
The unhappiest country of the 147 surveyed is Afghanistan once again, with Afghan women saying their lives are especially difficult.
But of the 10 least happy countries, seven are in sub-Saharan Africa. At the bottom of the list for the continent are Sierra Leone in west Africa with a ranking of 146, Malawi at 144 and Zimbabwe at 143.
Why is Finland such a happy place?
Edited by: Louis Oelofse