Finland is still the happiest place on earth – but Britain and the US have both become more miserable, according to a global review.
The Scandinavian nation, home to 5.5 million people, has held this award for seven years in a row.
Afghanistan is now at the bottom of the World Happiness Report again.
Both Britain and the US have fallen in the global rankings of more than 140 countries in 2024.
Britain fell one place to 20th, putting it below Lithuania and the Czech Republic, while the US fell eight places to 23rd.
Experts also claimed that the data showed a worrying trend where younger adults in Europe and North America were experiencing the equivalent of a ‘midlife crisis’.
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The UN-sponsored report, now in its twelfth year, is based on assessments of the happiness of tens of thousands of people, as well as economic and social data.
It gives a happiness score on a scale of zero to 10, based on an average score over a three-year period.
Finland got 7.74 out of 10, while Afghanistan got 1.72. By comparison, Britain’s was 6.72.
The US score was slightly lower, dropping the country from the top 20 since the report launched in 2012.
Analysts said this was mainly driven by a decline in wellbeing among those in their 30s, with this year’s report the first to break down results by age group.
The US ranks 62nd in happiness among young people. Among the elderly – defined as those over 60 – it came in tenth place.
It scored 42nd in younger, middle-aged people and 17th in older, middle-aged people.
Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the seventh year in a row, according to an annual UN-sponsored index. In the photo: Helsinki
Afghanistan was the unhappiest country (score 1.72) of the 143 countries that took part in the UN-backed survey. In the photo: Kabul
By comparison, Britain ranked 32nd for young people, 27th for younger middle-aged people, 19th for older middle-aged people and 20th for older people.
Lithuania (19th overall) has the happiest younger people in the global rankings, while Denmark’s (second overall) old people were the happiest in the world.
Across generations, analysts found that people born before 1965 tend to be happier than those born after 1980.
It was also observed that the happiness of millennials decreased every year. In contrast, boomers’ life satisfaction has increased with age.
Experts said the data also showed a worrying trend of young people in Western Europe and North America experiencing the equivalent of a ‘midlife crisis’.
Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an expert in economics and behavioral sciences at the University of Oxford and editor of the report, said: ‘By bringing together the available data on the well-being of children and adolescents around the world, we documented we see disturbing declines, especially in North America. America and Western Europe.
“To think that children in some parts of the world are already experiencing the equivalent of a midlife crisis requires immediate policy action.”
Eight of the ten happiest countries were in Europe, with Denmark taking second place with 7.58 points, roughly the same score as the Scandinavian country last year.
Iceland came third. Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia completed the top ten.
War-scarred Afghanistan and Lebanon remained the two unhappiest countries in the world with scores of 1.72 and 2.70 respectively.
The third unluckiest was the landlocked African country of Lesotho with 3.18 hours.
Other significant changes included Costa Rica returning to the top 20 after a three-year hiatus and Germany, like the US, falling out of the happiest countries for the first time.
This year’s report is the first since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in 2023.
Israel (5th) scored 7.34, well above Palestine (103rd) which scored around 4.88.
Both countries experienced a decline in global happiness rankings.
It also marks the second year of figures after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia now ranks 72nd in the global rankings (5.78), up from 70th the year before.
Meanwhile, Ukraine ranks 105th at 4.87, up from 92nd the year before.
The report is based on self-reported data from people surveyed in each country.
Participants are asked to rate their lives out of 10 and then an average score for the country is calculated based on the ratings received over the past three years.