United States drops out of the top 20 happiest countries in 2024: What are the top 10 in the happiness ranking?
According to the Annual Happiness Report, the US has fallen out of the top 20 happiest countries in the world. Here are the countries ranked the highest.
For the first time in 12 years, the United States has been left out of the top 20 of the happiest countries in the world, according to the Gallup/Meta World Happiness Report. The previous year, the US occupied the number 15 spot; now, it has plunged to 23rd.
According to those who conducted the study, the country’s fall in the ranking is directly related to the increased feeling of loneliness among younger adults under 30 years of age.
“In the United States, happiness or subjective well-being has decreased in all age groups, but especially among young adults... This demonstrates a spike in loneliness among younger Americans,” said Gallup Managing Director Ilana Ron-Levey to CBS.
“It is widely recognized that social support and feelings of loneliness are influential factors in determining overall happiness, and these dynamics differ between different age groups,” she added.
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Finland, the happiest country in the world
Nordic countries occupied the highest spots, while Afghanistan found itself in last place.
For the seventh consecutive year, Finland stood out for being the happiest country in the world, especially among people aged 30. It is followed by Denmark, the highest-ranking nation for well-being among people over 60 years of age. The third position went to Iceland.
This is what the first 10 positions in the ranking look like:
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- Australia
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According to the World Happiness Report, countries are ranked according to their self-rated life evaluations, averaged over the years 2021-2023. It appears that a relatively small country size is something that most of the happiest countries share.
“In the top ten, only the Netherlands and Australia have more than 15 million inhabitants. Among the top 20, only Canada and the United Kingdom have more than 30 million inhabitants,” said the report.
This is the first time in more than 10 years that the US and Germany did not make it to the 20 happiest countries in the world. Germany is now ranked 24th, right after the United States.