Ukraine again ranked 111th in the happiness index, Finland is first for the ninth time in a row

Ukraine ranked 111th in the updated happiness rating for the second year in a row, and Finland was named the happiest country in the world for a record ninth time in a row, UNN reports, citing the results of the World Happiness Report 2026.

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Northern European countries once again lead the happiness ranking. Finland remains at the top, followed by three countries: Iceland, Denmark, and Costa Rica. Sweden and Norway round out the top six, followed by the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, which complete the top ten. Costa Rica's rise to 4th place is the highest ever for a Latin American country.

Afghanistan remains last in the ranking, taking 147th place.

Analyzing changes in happiness levels from the baseline period of 2006-2010 to 2023-2025, almost twice as many countries (79) showed a significant increase than a significant decrease (41) among the 136 countries included in the ranking.

During this period, most of the 21 countries that scored one or more points on the life evaluation scale from 0 to 10 are located in Central and Eastern Europe, reflecting the convergence of happiness levels in Europe that has been observed for more than a decade. Most of the eight countries where happiness levels decreased by more than one point are in or near major conflict zones.

Overall, most Western industrialized countries are now less happy than they were between 2005 and 2010. Fifteen of them experienced a significant decline, compared to four countries where a significant increase was observed.

In the ranking of changes in happiness levels among individuals under 25, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (the NANZ region) occupy places 122 to 133 in a list of 136 countries.

In eight of the ten global regions, covering approximately 90% of the world's population, people in the youngest age group now rate their lives higher than in 2006-2010, both in absolute terms and relative to those aged 25 and over. Youth well-being has declined only in the NANZ countries and Western Europe, both in absolute terms and relative to adults.

Negative emotions are becoming increasingly common in all global regions. Among young people, they are less common, with the exception of the NANZ region, where an increase in sadness was observed compared to other regions. Overall, anxiety has increased among young people, while the frequency of anger has decreased universally, both among young people and older people.

Positive emotions are still twice as common as negative emotions. In all regions, they are higher in newborns than in the older generation, with the exception of the NANZ region, where this gap has narrowed in recent years.

Happiness and social networks

According to data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which covers seven types of internet activity for 15-year-old schoolchildren in 47 countries (but, unfortunately, not in NANZ countries), life satisfaction is highest at low levels of social media use and lower at high levels of use.

Internet activity is divided into two groups. Communication, news, learning, and content creation are associated with higher life satisfaction. Social media, games, and browsing the web for entertainment are associated with lower life evaluations.

All types of internet activity are associated with lower life satisfaction at very high levels of use, especially for girls and for residents of the UK and Ireland, two English-speaking countries participating in PISA.

Data from Latin America show that the type of platform is crucial. Platforms designed to facilitate social connections show a clear positive association with happiness, while platforms driven by algorithmically selected content generally show a negative association at high levels of use.

Collectively, PISA and Gallup data show significantly higher youth well-being in countries where more time is spent using the internet for communication, and slightly lower youth well-being in countries with a higher average amount of social media use. Latin American countries combine high levels of social media use with high levels of youth well-being, while in English-speaking countries, youth well-being is lower than could be explained by fairly typical patterns of internet use.

The prevalence and patterns of social media use are similar across countries, but their association with life evaluation is stronger in English-speaking countries and Western Europe. However, these differences do not explain the significant decline in youth well-being in these countries. Much, undoubtedly, depends on how social media is used and on the broader socio-economic context.

For reference

The report was prepared by the Oxford University Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the United Nations. The study, as reported, is based on surveys of approximately 100,000 people. To determine the ranking, the Gallup World Poll asks respondents in 147 countries to rate their lives.