Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.
Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.
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 UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
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.
I thought Finland and Nordic countries were notoriously depressed all winter??
Well sure, but the summer actually makes up for it.
(Personally: I’m from Finland, have had depression with seasonal pattern. Winters aren’t that bad, early/late winter sucks though. Psychochemically, because the day length is noticeably changing and sleeping patterns get disturbed. Socially, because all sidewalks and walking paths get really slippery no matter how much sand and gravel they put there and going outside gets a bit scarier.)
that’s just the loganberries talking.