Western Europe dominates the World Happiness Report

- 14 of the 20 countries labeled as the happiest in the world are located in the “old continent”

By César Heredia, data journalist

Do you want to be happy? Move to a Western Europe country. At least that is what is derived from the most recent World Happiness Report.

According to the 2024 ranking, Finland is the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Israel breaks into fifth place, despite being in the midst of a bloody war. The top ten is completed by the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia. As a consequence, 80% of the first 10 countries come from Western Europe.

Finland occupies the top position for the seventh year in a row, according to several media outlets.

Per region, Australia/New Zealand (ANZ), and North America (Canada, United States) have the highest average score (6.9), followed closely by Western Europe (6.8), Central and Western Europe (6.2), and Latin America and the Caribbean (6.1). The least happy regions are located in Sub-Saharan Africa (4.3), and South Asia (3.9).

Costa Rica breaks into the 12th position on the list, which makes the Central American country the happiest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico, Uruguay, El Salvador, and Chile follow the "ticos". The “least happy” of the region? Venezuela.

The South Americans, once a major player in the world oil industry, have succumbed to the last place of happiness in Latin America and the Caribbean due to the crisis resulting from 25 years of leftist/socialist governments. Curiously, other fellow “Bolivarian” countries accompany Venezuela: neighbors Colombia, and Ecuador. The latter is currently in a period of instability.

World happiness report in Latin America and the Caribbean

Apart from Israel, Kuwait is the happiest country in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) (13th place), followed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, two fellow oil producers and OPEC members. At the other end are located Lebanon, Yemen, and Egypt.

World happiness report in the MENA

Among the countries located in Central and East Europe, Czechia (formerly Czech Republic) appears as the happiest country. Next in line are Lithuania, Slovenia, and Kosovo, a State with limited recognition by the international community. Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria occupy the lowest positions.

World happiness report in Central and East Europe

Even though all the Western European countries (except Turkiye, which is in the 98th place) are located in the top half of the list, Italy (42nd) and Portugal (55th) are out of the top 40, Spain is out of the top 30 (36th), while Germany (24th) position themselves outside the top 20.

World happiness report in West Europe

Only one place outside Europe, the Americas, MENA, or ANZ positions into the 30 happiest countries in the world.

Singapore, an island country located in the maritime heartland of Southeast Asia, lies in the 30th place, which makes it the top Asian country in the report.

Three East-Asian outlets, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, follow the steps of the renowned city-state in the 31st, 51st, and 52nd places, respectively.

World happiness report in Asia

As seen above, China ranks 60th, while India is 126th. These countries are the two most populated in the world. South-Asian Afghanistan is the “least happy” of the countries listed in the report.

Among the countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Uzbekistan is the highest ranked (47th), followed by Kazakhstan (49th), Moldova (71st), and Russia (72nd). Ukraine, currently in a conflict with Russia since February 2022, ranks 105th).

World happiness report in the CIS

Finally, 34 of the 35 Sub-Saharan African nations included in the study are located in the bottom half. All but one, Mauritius, which is the best ranked in the 70th overall position. South Africa (83rd), and the Congo Republic (89th) follow the Mauritians, while the Congo Democratic Republic (139th), Sierra Leone (140th), and Lesotho (141st) are the worst placed in the World Happiness Report when it comes to the Sub-Saharan Africa.

World happiness report in the CIS

Full ranking

About the World Happiness Report

According to their official website, the report "reviews the state of happiness in the world today and shows how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness."

It's produced by a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board, under the editorial control of the latter.

The study includes six explanatory factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. The sum of all of them, plus a seventh variable called Dystopia, makes up the total score of each country.