The latest World Happiness Report shows a marked rise in global well-being, with 79 nations recording significant improvements between the 2006-2010 baseline and the 2023-2025 period. Finland retained its place as the happiest country for the ninth straight year in 2026, reporting an average life evaluation score of 7.764 -- an increase of 0.375 points from the previous year. The Nordic region maintained a strong presence in the top rankings, with Iceland in second place, followed by Denmark at third, Sweden at fifth and Norway at sixth. A major highlight was Costa Rica, which climbed from 23rd in 2023 to a remarkable fourth in 2026 -- its highest-ever ranking. Switzerland also returned to the top 10 at tenth place after ranking 13th last year.
English-speaking nations slip further
The 2026 list again saw no English-speaking countries in the top 10. Among them, New Zealand ranked 11th, Ireland placed 13th and Australia stood at 15th. Meanwhile, the United States was at 23rd, Canada at 25th and the United Kingdom at 29th.
Top 10 happiest countries in the world
| Ranking | Country | Life Evaluation Score |
| 1 | Finland | 7.764 |
| 2 | Iceland | 7.540 |
| 3 | Denmark | 7.539 |
| 4 | Costa Rica | 7.439 |
| 5 | Sweden | 7.255 |
| 6 | Norway | 7.242 |
| 7 | Netherlands | 7.223 |
| 8 | Israel | 7.187 |
| 9 | Luxembourg | 7.063 |
| 10 | Switzerland | 7.018 |
Where does India rank?
India ranked 116th in the World Happiness Report 2026, two notches up from the 118th position last year but behind Nepal and Pakistan. India improved its ranking from 126th in 2024 to 118th in 2025, rising two positions this year and currently standing at 116th with a life evaluation score of 4.536. In India's neighbourhood, Afghanistan is yet again ranked as the unhappiest country in the world, this year again 147th, same as for 2025, even below the 143rd rank in 2023. While Nepal with 99th rank (92 in 2025, 93 in 2024) and Pakistan with 104th rank (109 in 2025, 108 in 2024) remained much ahead of India. Sri Lanka ranked 134th (134 in 2025, 128 in 2024) and Bangladesh 127th (127 in 2025, 129 in 2024).
World Happiness Report
The World Happiness Report is released each year around March 20, coinciding with the International Day of Happiness, and combines well-being data from over 140 countries with analysis by world-leading researchers from a range of academic disciplines. This year's theme revolved around 'Happiness and Social Media.
The rankings are based on individuals' own assessments of their lives, along with key variables like GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. The report also highlights that the inequality of happiness has happened in every region except Europe and negative emotions are more frequent now.
