As European countries dominate the top 20 of the 2025 Gallup’s annual World Happiness Report, the U.S. has dropped to 24th place in the 2025 ranking, its lowest ever position.
Rankings are determined from answers people give when asked to rate their own lives, and the study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
For the eighth year in a row, Finland was named the happiest country in the world. It was followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands to round out the top five. Costa Rica and Mexico also notably entered the top 10 for the first time in the report’s history, ranking at sixth and 10th place respectively.
The highest point for the U.S. ranking was in 2012.
Some factors that influence happiness?
Health and wealth, but also sharing meals with others, having somebody to count on for social support, and household size affect one’s perception of happiness.
Also, believing in the kindness of others is tied to happiness.
For example, the report suggests that people who believe that others are willing to return their lost wallet is a strong predictor of the overall happiness of a population. Nordic countries are at the top of the list in this regard.
Also linked to the rise of unhappiness in the U.S. is a rise in the number of those dining alone. The U.S. has seen the number of lonely diners increase by 53% over two decades.
While deaths of despair, preventable deaths due to suicide, alcohol abuse, or drug overdoses, have dropped in much of the world, the US has experienced the world’s greatest increase in premature deaths from 2000-2019.
This decline in happiness “explains a large share in the rise in political polarisation and votes against ‘the system,’” the report said. Among unhappy people, low-trust individuals are likely to turn to the far right, while high-trust individuals are more inclined to vote for the far left.
