For the eighth consecutive year, Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world, according to the 2025 UN-sponsored World Happiness Report. Experts attribute Finland’s top spot to factors such as access to nature, a strong welfare system, and a high level of social trust. Finland was followed by its Nordic neighbors, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden, which also ranked in the top 10.
Costa Rica and Mexico made notable progress, both entering the top 10 for the first time. Experts point to the strong family bonds in these Latin American countries as contributing factors to their rise in the rankings. The report also found that people generally overestimate how unkind strangers are, with the study showing that the actual rate of wallets returned by strangers was almost twice as high as people expected. This finding suggests that belief in the kindness of others is strongly linked to happiness.
The UK and the US both slipped in the rankings, with the US reaching its lowest-ever position at 24th. The rankings are based on people’s evaluations of their own lives, with countries assessed using a three-year average of these scores. Finland, with an average score of 7.736 out of 10, led the list, followed by Denmark (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Sweden (4th), and the Netherlands (5th). Costa Rica (6th), Norway (7th), Israel (8th), Luxembourg (9th), and Mexico (10th) completed the top 10.
In addition to economic and social factors, Finland’s unique cultural aspects, like the popularity of saunas (with nearly 90% of Finns using them weekly), are also considered key to its citizens’ well-being.