Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The US falls to its lowest-ever position

Aino Virolainen, a digital commerce director, has lived abroad but always wants to return home to Finland.

"This is where I always want to come back to and where I want to, you know, grow my kids and grow old myself," Virolainen said Thursday. "And I think it's because, you know, the peace and the quietness and the trustworthiness. You know, how we speak directly and the nature, of course. It's clean and the air is fresh and what's there not to love?"

Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

"Happiness isn't just about wealth or growth — it's about trust, connection and knowing people have your back," said Jon Clifton, the CEO of Gallup. "If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other."

Sharing meals and having somebody to count on

Researchers say that beyond health and wealth, some factors that influence happiness sound deceptively simple: sharing meals with others, having somebody to count on for social support, and household size. In Mexico and Europe, for example, a household size of four to five people predicts the highest levels of happiness, the study said.

Believing in the kindness of others is also much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought, according to the latest findings.

As an example, the report suggests that people who believe that others are willing to return their lost wallet is a strong predictor of the overall happiness of a population.

Nordic nations rank among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets, the study found.

Alexandra Peth, a managing director, said Finnish culture prioritizes trust and connection.

"People trust each other in Finland and I think on many levels in the society, we try to support each other," Peth said. "So I think the system makes it kind of that you can trust it somehow."

Overall, researchers said that global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets shows that people are much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities compared to reality — actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect.

The U.S. falls to its lowest-ever position in the happiness ranking

While European countries dominate the top 20 in the ranking, there were some exceptions. Despite the war with Hamas, Israel came in at eighth. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking at sixth and 10th respectively.

When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness — the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.

The United Kingdom, at position 23, is reporting its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report.

Afghanistan is again ranked as the unhappiest country in the world, with Afghan women saying their lives are especially difficult.

Sierra Leone in western Africa is the second unhappiest, followed by Lebanon, ranking third from the bottom.

Almost one-fifth of young adults globally have no social support

In a concerning development, the study said that 19% of young adults across the world reported in 2023 that they have no one they could count on for social support. That is a 39% increase compared to 2006.

All countries are ranked according to their self-assessed life evaluations averaged over 2022 to 2024.

Experts in economics, psychology, sociology and beyond then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as gross domestic product per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

Jouni Purhonen, a Helsinki resident, called Finns "really calm."

"So we have the time to think about things like live our life really peacefully and I guess easily, if you will," Purhonen said.