World Happiness Report 2026: Finland happiest nation for ninth time, India ranks 116th

Heavy social media use is harming younger individuals’s well-being in lots of international locations, in accordance with a U.N.-backed World Happiness report launched on Thursday (March 18, 2026), which additionally ranked Finland because the world’s happiest nation for the ninth consecutive yr.

This yr’s World Happiness Report highlighted the impression of social media as many international locations impose or mull legislative restrictions on social media use for younger individuals.

This yr as properly, Nordic international locations lead the happiness rankings.

Prime ten international locations within the World Happiness Report 2026

• Finland

• Iceland

• Denmark

• Costa Rica

• Sweden

• Norway

• Netherlands

• Israel

• Luxembourg

• Switzerland

Costa Rica’s rise to fourth marks the best ever rating for a Latin American nation.

Among the many 147 international locations featured within the report, India ranks 116th, a slight enchancment from its 118th place in 2025.

The report highlighted how life evaluations amongst below 25-year-olds in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have dropped considerably over the previous decade, and steered that lengthy hours spent scrolling by social media is a key think about that pattern. In contrast, younger individuals in different elements of the world felt higher about their lives.

The report attributes Finland’s constant prime rating together with different Northern European international locations to a mix of wealth, its equal distribution, having a welfare state that protects individuals from the dangers of recessions, and a wholesome life expectancy.

As in earlier years, nations in or close to zones of main battle stay on the foot of the rankings. Afghanistan is ranked because the unhappiest nation once more, adopted by Sierra Leone and Malawi in Africa.

Ten unhappiest international locations embody (rankings from 138 to 147):

• Tanzania

• Egypt

• DR Congo

• Lebanon

• Yemen

• Botswana

• Zimbabwe

• Malawi

• Sierra Leone

• Afghanistan

Six elements for analysis of happiness rating

• GDP per capita

• Life expectancy

• Social assist

• Freedom to make life selections

• Generosity

• Perceptions of corruption

Nation rankings have been based mostly on solutions given by round 100,000 individuals in 140 international locations and territories who have been requested to fee their very own lives. The examine was finished in partnership with the analytics agency Gallup and the U.N. Sustainable Growth Options Community.

Report highlights social media’s adverse impression

The report stated the adverse correlation between well-being and in depth social media use is especially regarding amongst teenage women. For instance, it stated that 15-year-old women who use social media for 5 hours or extra reported a drop in life satisfaction, in comparison with others who use it much less.

Younger individuals who use social media for lower than one hour per day report the best ranges of well-being, researchers stated, increased than those that don’t use social media in any respect.

The 2026 rankings mark the second yr in a row that not one of the English-speaking international locations seem within the prime 10. The US is at twenty third place, Canada is at twenty fifth and Britain at twenty ninth.