Costa Rica, now ranked sixth, stands out as North America’s happiest country, surpassing both the U.S. and Canada. At the opposite end, the Dominican Republic (#76) ranks as the least happy in the region, likely due to persistent inequality and economic challenges.
In South America, Uruguay remains the happiest country at #28, while Venezuela (#82) retains its position as the least happy. Its ongoing economic crisis, political turmoil, and large-scale emigration have greatly diminished quality of life.
Ukraine (#111) is Europe’s lowest-ranked country, still grappling with the lingering effects of war, financial instability, and an uncertain future.
Afghanistan continues to occupy the bottom spot globally and in the Middle East. Prolonged conflict, restrictions on freedoms—especially for women—and a struggling economy have kept it the world’s least happy nation since 2020.
Taiwan emerges as East Asia’s happiest country at #27, surpassing Singapore. Bangladesh, meanwhile, ranks lowest among Asian economies at #134, weighed down by economic challenges and ongoing political instability.
Africa has the lowest average happiness scores worldwide. Within the region, Mauritius (#78) leads as the happiest country, helped by a relatively higher standard of living, while Sierra Leone remains second to last overall due to widespread poverty, political corruption, and inadequate infrastructure.
Lastly, in Oceania, Australia and New Zealand both record strong scores of 7.0, narrowly missing the global top 10. High life expectancy and robust social systems contribute to their elevated rankings.
Below, we show the three countries that saw the largest increases to their happiness scores from last year, and the three countries that saw the greatest decreases.
| Country | 2023 Happiness Score | 2024 Happiness Score | Change in score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇱🇸 Lesotho | 3.2 | 3.8 | 0.6 |
| 🇱🇧 Lebanon | 2.7 | 3.2 | 0.5 |
| 🇿🇲 Zambia | 3.5 | 3.9 | 0.4 |
| 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | 3.3 | 3.0 | -0.3 |
| 🇰🇼 Kuwait | 7.0 | 6.6 | -0.3 |
| 🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 1.7 | 1.4 | -0.4 |
Lesotho recorded the greatest improvement among all surveyed countries, with its happiness score rising by 0.6 points (from 3.2 to 3.8). Despite this notable gain, it still ranks among the least happy nations worldwide.
Lebanon and Zambia also registered significant increases in their scores but continue to sit near the bottom of the rankings, underscoring the entrenched economic and political hurdles they face. Meanwhile, some of the world’s least happy countries saw their scores dip even further. Sierra Leone, Kuwait, and Afghanistan experienced the largest drops, each declining by 0.3 to 0.4 points.
Looking at overall ranking shifts, Latin American countries led the way, indicating a renewed sense of optimism in spite of persistent economic and political challenges. Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador recorded the most substantial climbs, moving up by 17, 15, and 12 places, respectively.
Colombia advanced from #78 to #61, Mexico reached the top 10 for the first time by jumping from #25 to #10, and Ecuador rose from #74 to #62.
By contrast, the United States slipped from #23 to #24, continuing a downward trajectory that has been evident since 2016. Declining social trust and growing inequality remain key contributors to the U.S.’s gradual slide in the rankings.
Source: The World Happiness Report which leverages data from the Gallup World Poll.
Methodology: The World Happiness Report derives its rankings from Gallup World Poll data, surveying approximately 1,000 people per country per year across 140+ countries. The total sample size typically exceeds 140,000 respondents annually. The rankings are based on three-year averages, from 2022 to 2024. Respondents evaluate their lives using the Cantril Ladder, a 0-to-10 scale. The rankings are based on six key factors: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity (measured by charitable acts), and perceptions of corruption.
In addition to life evaluations, the report examines emotional well-being through positive and negative affect indicators, such as laughter, worry, and sadness. The 2025 edition also emphasizes social trust and benevolence, analyzing behaviors like sharing meals, helping strangers, and returning lost wallets to assess how caring and community engagement contribute to happiness.
Criticisms: Critics of the World Happiness Report point out that survey questions measure satisfaction with socioeconomic conditions as opposed to individual emotional happiness. As well, there are myriad cultural differences around the world that influence how people think about happiness and life satisfaction. Finally, there can be big differences in life satisfaction between groups within a country, which are averaged out even in a nationally representative group. The report does acknowledge inequality as a factor by measuring the “gap” between the most and least happy halves of each country.
They might want to check those countries happiness levels again next year, after they stop sending taxpayer dollars to them.
Despite being mentioned as the happiest ME country, Gallup left off Israel’s flag in its scatter chart. Or in blind this AM.
I’m sure it’s an “honest mistake” and they’re not trying to erase it.