The pursuit of happiness is an ongoing journey, but some places are on the right track. Gallup recently conducted its 2025 World Happiness Report to determine which countries are the most content.
The findings [PDF] consist of data from the Gallup World Poll and other sources, including the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll. Leading experts in wellbeing science also analyzed the statistics. Countries were ranked based on self-assessed life evaluations averaged from 2022 to 2024. Their final scores ranged from 1 to 10, with 10 being the happiest possible. Factors that contributed to the ranking include residents’ likelihood of helping strangers and giving donations, sharing with others, social connection, household size, and societal trust.
According to the data, Nordic countries top the chart. Finland leads the pack for the eighth year in a row. This time, it received a 7.736 out of 10, only slightly below its score from 2024. The country takes pride in this title. Its official travel website, Visit Finland, even offered a “Masterclass of Happiness” course in 2023 to help others achieve the “Finnish” level of happiness. Denmark (7.521), Iceland (7.515), and Sweden follow (7.345) in the same order as last year.
A few notable changes include Costa Rica (7.274) and Mexico (6.979) entering the top 10 list for the first time. The report shows that family satisfaction is one of the main contributors to happiness in Mexico. Israel was fifth on Gallup’s World Happiness Report of 2024 but is now in eighth place.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Afghanistan (1.36) is one of the least happy places, according to Gallup. From 2013 to 2025, the country dropped almost 2.7 points. What’s more, is that women in the community average only 1.16 points out of 10 on the happiness scale.
You can find the top 10 happiest countries below:
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Costa Rica
- Norway
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
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