Where People Are (Un)Happiest With Their Lives

In 2012, the United Nations proclaimed March 20 as the International Day of Happiness or World Happiness Day, which has been held on this date every year since. The aim is to promote awareness for a "more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes the happiness and well-being of all people". Although happiness and satisfaction are subjective parameters, the team behind the World Happiness Report has once again produced a country ranking this year that reveals clear differences between Western industrialized nations and countries in Asia and Africa.

In order to map the satisfaction of respondents in the 147 countries surveyed, participants were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with their current life on a ten-point scale. This was used to calculate an average value for the results between 2022 and 2024 for each country. As this chart, based on the report shows, Finland (7.736), Denmark (7.521) and Iceland (7.515) are the countries with the most satisfied residents according to calculations, while the three lowest scores are found among the residents of Lebanon (3.19), Sierra Leone (3.00) and Afghanistan (1.36). The United States is ranked 24th out of the 147 countries in this year's evaluation.

The report found that unemployment was a factor influencing life evaluation negatively, as were the anticipation of mental health issues or violent crime. Doubling one's income had a positive effect, but it was by far not as big as the increase in perceived happiness correlated with carrying out benevolent acts like donating to charity, volunteering or helping a stranger. Expecting to have your wallet returned when lost coincided with an even bigger boost to life ratings, however.

It’s important to note here that the ranking of the World Happiness Report is not an objective survey based on key figures such as gross domestic product per capita, life expectancy or the quality of the social system. According to the authors, these are analyzed as "supporting factors" in the text of the report but have no influence on the score.