You can’t buy happiness, but you can visit the happiest country in the world.
Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks countries based on the “life evaluations” of more than 100,000 global survey respondents. The report is a partnership between the Oxford University Center for Wellbeing Research, Gallup, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and independent editorial board members, according to the report’s website.
Respondents are asked to describe how they view themselves with respect to issues such as freedom, inequality, positive and negative emotions, and healthy life expectancy on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing the worst life for them and 10 representing the best life.
“Many people think of happiness as a positive emotional state that makes you smile, laugh, and feel good…but people also often use happiness to explain their evaluations and judgments,” the report’s website says, noting that the rankings take into account responses from the past three years. “We focus on both of these aspects.”
The findings, published on March 19, show that this year, all but one of the six happiest countries are in Northern Europe, and nearly all of the top 10 are in Europe.
What is the happiest country in the world?
Finland has been the happiest country in the world for the ninth year in a row.
Top 10 happiest countries
- Finland
- iceland
- Denmark
- Costa Rica
- Sweden
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
Do U.S. citizens need a visa to visit Finland?
According to the State Department, U.S. citizens do not need a tourist visa to visit Finland.
The same goes for other European countries in the top 10 for stays of less than 90 days, and Costa Rica for stays of less than 180 days.
Among the 10 happiest countries, only Israel requires a visa or electronic travel authorization (ETA-IL).
However, from the end of 2026, visa-free travel to 30 European countries, including Finland, will require approval from the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), although the exact start date has not been announced.
Where does America rank in terms of happiness?
The United States came in 23rd place.rd The report placed it two places higher than Canada.
Is Mexico happier than the United States?
According to the World Happiness Report, yes. Mexico ranks 12thth this year.
