NEW YORK, United States: Finland has been ranked as the country with the happiest population in the world for the eighth year in a row, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
This is based on the World Happiness Report published today to mark International Day of Happiness.
The report is a partnership effort between pollster Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
For the report, researchers analysed the period between 2022 and 2024.
As was the case last year, the Nordic countries were all in the top 10, with Finland followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.
Norway came in seventh.
The Netherlands were back in the top five, while Costa Rica (six) and Mexico (10) have made it into the top 10 for the first time.
Germany improved from 24th to 22nd place, while the US fell by one position to 24th place, its worst position ever.
The ranking includes 147 countries, with Afghanistan ranking last.
Finns asked to evaluate their lives reported an average score of 7.736 (out of 10), while Afghans’ average was 1.364.
The happiness researchers identified a number of key factors that generally make people happier, such as social support, income, health freedom and the perception of corruption.
Among the least happy countries were Lebanon, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan, ranking 141st, 142nd, and 143rd, respectively.
Conflict-ravaged Palestine was ranked 108th, above Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Egypt, with Palestinians reporting an average score of 4.7 out of 10.
-BERNAMA-dpa
