YEAR AFTER YEAR, AND THE MOST UNHAPPY THE CYPRIOTS - SEE THE LIST OF THE HAPPIEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD - Filenews 19/3
Unpleasant news for our country, as citizens are recorded over time more and more unhappy. Cyprus from 39th place in 2019, 43rd in 2023 and 50th in 2024, slumps even further to 62nd place among 147 countries around the world, in surveys that study happiness.
Finland is at the top for the ninth year in a row, followed by Iceland and Denmark.
High on the list, as the 8th happiest country, is Israel, which is a surprise given that in recent years it has been involved in wars in the Middle East region.
These are data from a study, which is compiled by the Centre for Wellness Research at the University of Oxford and is included in the annual report on global happiness.
Europe: the entire top ten with the exception of Costa Rica and Israel
Costa Rica took 4th place - the highest ranking ever recorded for a Latin American country - but then we return to the Scandinavian countries, with Sweden and Norway occupying 5th and 6th place respectively. Three other European countries appear in the top ten: the Netherlands in 7th place, Luxembourg in 9th and Switzerland in 10th.
Israel, the only country in the Middle East in the top 20, ranked 8th.
Where is the US located?
The U.S. is ranked 23rd this year, while Canada ranked 25th and the U.K. ranked 29th. This is the second year in a row that none of the English-speaking countries—the US, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, Canada, or the UK—have made it into the top ten.
What the Happiness Research Looks At
The researchers look at six factors, including GDP per capita, life expectancy, generosity, and perceptions of freedom and corruption, to help understand the variations between countries.
Finland's deep commitment to cooperation explains its stay at the top of the rankings, John F. Helliwell, professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia and founding author of the World Happiness Report, said in an interview.
"Successful societies work together in the face of adversity," he said. "The Finns know this. And once you have the feeling that you are with the other person in something difficult, there is no end to what you can do."
Top 10 happiest countries in the world 2026
Finland
Iceland
Denmark
Costa
Rica Sweden
Norway
Netherlands
Israel
Luxembourg
Switzerland
The most unhappy countries in the world
Last on the happiness list are the following 5 countries:
Afghanistan 147
Sierra Leone 146
Malawi 145
Zimbabwe 144
Botswana 143
Full list
1 ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland 7.8
2 ๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland 7.5
3 ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark 7.5
4 ๐จ๐ท Costa Rica 7.4
5 ๐ธ๐ช Sweden 7.3
6 ๐ณ๐ด Norway 7.2
7 ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands 7.2
8 ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel 7.2
9 ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg 7.1
10 ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland 7.0
11 ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand 7.0
12 ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico 7.0
13 ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland 6.9
14 ๐ง๐ช Belgium 6.9
15 ๐ฆ๐บ Australia
16 ๐ฝ๐ฐ Kosovo 6.9
17 ๐ฉ๐ช Germany 6.9
18 ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia 6.9
19 ๐ฆ๐น Austria 6.8
20 ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia 6.8
21 ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates 6.8
22 ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia 6.8
23 ๐บ๐ธ United States 6.8
24 ๐ต๐ฑ Poland 6.8
25 ๐จ๐ฆ Canada 6.7
26 ๐น๐ผ Taiwan 6.7
27 ๐ง๐ฟ Belize 6.7
28 ๐ฑ๐น Lithuania 6.7
29 ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom 6.7
30 ๐ท๐ธ Serbia
31 ๐บ๐พ Uruguay 6.6
32 ๐ง๐ท Brazil 6.6
33 ๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan 6.6
34 ๐ท๐ด Romania 6.6
35 ๐ซ๐ท France 6.6
36 ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore 6.6
37 ๐ธ๐ป El Salvador 6.6
38 ๐ฎ๐น Italy 6.6
39 ๐ต๐ฆ Panama 6.5
40 ๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait 6.5
41 ๐ช๐ธ Spain 6.5
42 ๐ฌ๐น Guatemala 6.5
43 ๐ฒ๐น Malta 6.4
44 ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina 6.4
45 ๐ป๐ณ Viet Nam
46 ๐ช๐ช Estonia 6.4
47 ๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.4
48 ๐ฑ๐ป Latvia 6.4
49 ๐ฏ๐ฒ Jamaica 6.3
50 ๐จ๐ฑ Chile 6.3
51 ๐ณ๐ฎ Nicaragua 6.3
52 ๐น๐ญ Thailand 6.3
53 ๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan 6.3
54 ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia 6.3
55 ๐ง๐ญ Bahrain 6.3
56 ๐ต๐ญ Philippines 6.2
57 ๐ต๐พ Paraguay 6.2
58 ๐ด๐ฒ Oman 6.2
59 ๐ช๐จ Ecuador 6.1
60 ๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro
61 ๐ฏ๐ต Japan 6.1
62 ๐จ๐พ Cyprus 6.1
63 ๐ญ๐ณ Honduras 6.1
64 ๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic 6.1
65 ๐จ๐ณ China 6.1
66 ๐ฐ๐ฌ Kyrgyzstan 6.0
67 ๐ฐ๐ท Republic of Korea 6.0
68 ๐จ๐ด Colombia 6.0
69 ๐ต๐น Portugal 6.0
70 ๐ญ๐ท Croatia 6.0
71 ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia 6.0
72 ๐ต๐ช Peru 6.0
73 ๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius 5.9
74 ๐ญ๐บ Hungary 5.9
75 ๐ฒ๐ณ Mongolia
76 ๐น๐น Trinidad and Tobago 5.9
77 ๐ฒ๐ฉ Republic of Moldova 5.9
78 ๐ง๐ด Bolivia 5.8
79 ๐ท๐บ Russian Federation 5.8
80 ๐ป๐ช Venezuela 5.8
81 ๐ฑ๐พ Libya 5.7
82 ๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia 5.7
83 ๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria 5.7
84 ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria 5.7
85 ๐ฌ๐ท Greece 5.7
86 ๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania 5.7
87 ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia 5.6
88 ๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan 5.6
89 ๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenia 5.6
90 ๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong SAR 5.6
91 ๐ฌ๐ช Georgia 5.5
92 ๐ฑ๐ฆ Lao PDR 5.5
93 ๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique 5.3
94 ๐น๐ท Tรผrkiye 5.3
95 ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq 5.2
96 ๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon 5.2
97 ๐ฎ๐ท Iran 5.2
98 ๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d’Ivoire 5.1
99 ๐ณ๐ต Nepal 5.1
100 ๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon 5.1
101 ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa 5.0
102 ๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan 5.0
103 ๐ณ๐ช Niger 4.9
104 ๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan 4.9
105 ๐น๐ณ Tunisia 4.8
106 ๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria 4.8
107 ๐ธ๐ณ Senegal 4.8
108 ๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia 4.8
109 ๐ต๐ธ State of Palestine 4.7
110 ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya 4.7
111 ๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine 4.7
112 ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco 4.6
113 ๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea 4.6
114 ๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali 4.6
115 ๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana 4.6
116 ๐ฎ๐ณ India 4.5
117 ๐ธ๐ด Somalia 4.5
118 ๐บ๐ฌ Uganda 4.5
119 ๐ฏ๐ด Jordan 4.5
120 ๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania 4.5
121 ๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia 4.5
122 ๐จ๐ฌ Congo 4.5
123 ๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso 4.5
124 ๐ง๐ฏ Benin 4.4
125 ๐น๐ฉ Chad 4.4
126 ๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho 4.4
127 ๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh 4.3
128 ๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia 4.3
129 ๐ฒ๐ฒ Myanmar 4.3
130 ๐ฑ๐ท Liberia 4.3
131 ๐น๐ฌ Togo 4.3
132 ๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar 4.2
133 ๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia 4.1
134 ๐ฑ๐ฐ Sri Lanka 4.0
135 ๐ช๐น Ethiopia 4.0
136 ๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros 3.9
137 ๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini 3.9
138 ๐น๐ฟ Tanzania 3.9
139 ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt 3.9
140 ๐จ๐ฉ DR Congo 3.8
141 ๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon 3.7
142 ๐พ๐ช Yemen 3.5
143 ๐ง๐ผ Botswana 3.5
144 ๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe 3.3
145 ๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi 3.3
146 ๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone 3.3
147 ๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan 1.4
