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Nahar Net
02-04-2025
- General
- Nahar Net
Lebanon is the third unhappiest country in the world
by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 March 2025, 13:44 Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday. Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order. Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. "Happiness isn't just about wealth or growth — it's about trust, connection and knowing people have your back," said Jon Clifton, the CEO of Gallup. "If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other." - Sharing meals and having somebody to count on - Researchers say that beyond health and wealth, some factors that influence happiness sound deceptively simple: sharing meals with others, having somebody to count on for social support, and household size. In Mexico and Europe, for example, a household size of four to five people predicts the highest levels of happiness, the study said. Believing in the kindness of others is also much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought, according to the latest findings. As an 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 nations rank among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets, the study found. Overall, researchers said global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets shows that people are much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities compared to reality — actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect. - The U.S. falls to its lowest-ever position in the happiness ranking - While European countries dominate the top 20 in the ranking, there were some exceptions. Despite the war with Hamas, Israel came in at 8th. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking at 6th and 10th respectively. When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness —the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades. The United Kingdom, at position 23, is reporting its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report. Afghanistan is again ranked as the unhappiest country in the world, with Afghan women saying their lives are especially difficult. Sierra Leone in western Africa is the second unhappiest, followed by Lebanon, ranking the 3rd from the bottom. - Almost one-fifth of young adults globally have no social support - In a concerning development, the study said 19% of young adults across the world reported in 2023 that they have no one they could count on for social support. That is a 39% increase compared to 2006. All countries are ranked according to their self-assessed life evaluations averaged over 2022 to 2024. Experts in economics, psychology, sociology and beyond then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Americans under 30 are so miserable that the U.S. just fell to a historic low ranking in the annual World Happiness Report
The United States has a happiness problem. In the World Happiness Report's annual ranking of the happiest countries, the U.S. dropped to no.24, its lowest position in the list's 13-year history. Last year, the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 for the first time. The list is compiled from analysis of how a representative sample of residents from over 140 countries rate their quality of life. 'That gradual decline in well-being in the United States is, if you start digging into it, especially driven by people that are below 30,' Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics at the University of Oxford, leader of the Wellbeing Research Center and editor of The World Happiness Report, tells Fortune. 'Life satisfaction of young people in the U.S. has declined.' If you were only to assess those below 30, the U.S. wouldn't even rank in the top 60 happiest countries, the report finds. It's the same reason for the U.S.'s dramatic drop last year from no.15 to no.23. But the continuous decline is concerning, researchers note. 'It is really disheartening to see this, and it links perfectly with the fact that it's the well-being of youth in America that's off a cliff, which is driving the drop in the rankings to a large extent,' De Neve says. The U.S.'s ranking is also explained by larger inequality compared to the Nordic countries, like Finland (no.1), Denmark (no.2), and Iceland (no.3). 'In these Nordic Scandinavian countries, a rising tide lifts all boats, so the levels of economic inequality are much less, and that reflects in well-being as well,' De Neve says. 'In Finland, most people will rate [their happiness] as seven or an eight, whereas if you look at the distribution of well-being in the States, there's a lot of 10s out there, but there's a lot of ones as well.' The report focused more this year on the strength of a country's social support and how much people trust in others—a key predictor of personal well-being. In 2023, nearly one in five young adults in the U.S. said they had no one they could count on for support. And in the U.S., the number of people dining alone has increased by 53% since 2003 (the number of shared meals across a week was a new data point in this year's report that correlated to positive well-being, according to De Neve). 'You see an extraordinary increase in dining alone over the past two decades in the U.S.,' he says, which exacerbates people's distrust in others and in society. 'It's the fact that people are increasingly on their own, isolated, their political thinking, their theories around life and society, are no longer tested by others … In our echo chambers, we develop these notions that others are to be distrusted, and we mistrust others, and migrants eat cats and dogs, all that kind of stuff. And as a result, we start believing these things. And the way we've picked up on that is really acute.' The researchers say they were able to pick up on the distrust by asking whether or not people believed someone would return a lost wallet. Compared to the Nordic countries, people in the U.S. were more likely to underestimate the kindness of others. 'It requires that strangers are to be trusted, that they will go beyond the call of duty and be kind and try and get it back to the rightful owner, or drop it with the police, which means you need to trust the police,' De Neve says. 'That single item of the wallet drop is very powerful.' For more on happiness: Researchers have followed over 700 people since 1938 to find the keys to happiness. Here's what they discovered Americans are proof that money can't buy happiness, new report shows You can learn to be happier. This class can teach you how in just 1 week This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Finland is the world's happiest country yet again. Here are the top 10 on the list
It's a good day to be a Finn—again. For the 8th successive year, Finland ranks no.1 on the annual World Happiness Report. The report, published on the UN's International Day of Happiness, is based on analysis of how the residents of over 140 countries rate their quality of life. With 10 meaning someone is currently living the best possible life they can imagine, Finns came in first with an average score of 7.74. 'They're wealthy, they're healthy, have social connections, social support, [and] a connection with nature,' Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics at the University of Oxford, leader of the Wellbeing Research Center and editor of The World Happiness Report, tells Fortune. 'They're not happy, joyful, dancing in the streets type people, but they're very content with their lives.' Finland was followed by Denmark (no.2), Iceland (no.3), Sweden (no.4), and the Netherlands (no.5). While Mexico (no.10) and Costa Rica (no.6) joined the top 10 for the first time in the list's history, the U.S. dropped to its lowest ranking at no. 24. Last year, the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 for the first time since the 2012 inaugural list. The Nordic countries, historically at the top, are getting happier while the U.S. is getting less happy. While GDP per capita is relatively similar across the Nordic countries, the U.S., Australia, and the UK, the distribution of wealth sets them apart. 'In these Nordic Scandinavian countries, a rising tide lifts all boats, so the levels of economic inequality are much less, and that reflects in well-being as well,' De Neve says. 'In Finland, most people will rate themselves as seven or an eight, whereas if you look at the distribution of well-being in the States, there's a lot of 10s out there, but there's a lot of ones as well.' While the rankings factored in a country's GDP per capita, wealth distribution, and life expectancy, they found social trust and connection help determine happiness more than people may think. This year, the researchers found a strong correlation between someone believing in the kindness of others and their own perceived happiness. Across the board, too often, people underestimate the kindness of others, like, say, if someone will return a lost wallet. It affects well-being. Wallets are returned to their owner at almost twice the rate people assume. However, compared to the U.S., more people in Nordic countries believe a lost wallet will be returned (and more people are likely to return it). Maintaining a strong sense of community with acts such as regularly dining with others, for example, improves social trust and happiness, the report found. 'The more you believe in the kindness of others, or in other words, are socially trusting, the higher your individual well-being and the higher collective well-being,' De Neve says. 'The Nordic countries, the Scandinavian countries, do better, both in the belief in others' kindness and in the actual wallet drop.' As for Mexico and Costa Rica joining the top 10 for the first in the list's history, De Neve points to the strength of the countries' social fabrics. Latin American countries reported the highest number of shared meals and ranked high on social connectedness and trust. It helps explain why their rankings dipped more dramatically in the COVID-19 isolation years (De Neve says that 13 out of 14 meals shared across seven days correlated to the highest well-being measure). 'It is not because of high GDP and the highest life expectancy,' De Neve says about these two countries. 'They do spend time dining and lunching with others, having friends, and it's not all cannibalized by social media, and so we picked this up in the data.' The report is published yearly by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, alongside partners, including Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an editorial board that analyzes the findings pro bono. As De Neve dug into why Finland kept its reign, something else came to light that helped them stand out even from their Nordic counterparts. 'They're content with less,' he says. 'They had less, and they're more content with less. So they're happier with what they've got.' Here are the world's 25 happiest countries Finland Denmark Iceland Sweden Netherlands Costa Rica Norway Israel Luxembourg Mexico For more on happiness: Researchers have followed over 700 people since 1938 to find the keys to happiness. Here's what they discovered Americans are proof that money can't buy happiness, new report shows You can learn to be happier. This class can teach you how in just 1 week This story was originally featured on
