Finland leads the world in happiness for the eighth year in a row, with Finns reporting an average score of 7.736 (out of 10) when asked to evaluate their lives.
Costa Rica (6th) and Mexico (10th) both enter the top 10 for the first time, while continued upward trends for countries such as Lithuania (16th), Slovenia (19th) and Czechia (20th) underline the convergence of happiness levels between Eastern, Central and Western Europe.
The United States (24th) falls to its lowest-ever position, with the United Kingdom (23rd) reporting its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report.
I bang this drum a lot, but it does genuinely appear that once a country reaches the upper-middle income bracket, GDP doesn’t seem to matter much more.
Also featuring is a chapter from the Happier Lives Institute, where they compare the cost-effectiveness of improving wellbeing across multiple charities. They find that the top charities (including Pure Earth and Tamaika) might be 100x as cost-effective as others, especially those in high-income countries.
The first thing I wondered about when this report came out was: how did India do?
In that quick take I asked how India’s self-reported life satisfaction dropped an astounding −1.20 points (4.97 to 3.78) from 2011 to 2021, even as its GDP per capita rose +51% in the same period; China in contrast gained about as much self-reported life satisfaction as you’d expect given its GDP per capita rise. This “happiness catastrophe” should be alarming to folks who consider happiness and life satisfaction what ultimately matters (like HLI), since given India’s population such a drop over time adds up to roughly ~5 billion LS-years lost since 2011, very roughly ballparking (for context, and keeping in mind that LS-years and DALYs aren’t the same thing, the entire world’s DALY burden is ~2.5 billion DALYs p.a.). Even on a personal level −1.20 points is huge: 10x(!) larger than the effect of doubling income at +0.12 LS points (Clarke et al 2018 p199, via HLI’s report), and comparable to major negative life events like widowhood and extended unemployment. So it mystified me that nobody seems to be talking about it.
Last year’s WHR reported a 4.05 rating averaged over the 3-year window 2021-23, improving +0.27 points. This year’s WHR (linking to the country rankings dashboard) reports a 4.39 rating over 2022-24 i.e. +0.34 points, continuing the improvement trend. So I’m guessing this is some sort of mean reversion effect, and that the 3.78 LS averaged over 2018-20 was just anomalously low somehow...? Some commenters pointed to rising inequality and falling social support as potential factors. I still find myself confused.
Here is their plot over time, from the Chapter 2 Appendix. I think these are the raw per-year scores, not the averages.
I find this really baffling. It’s probably not political; the Modi government took power in 2014 and only lost absolute majority in late 2024. The effects of COVID seem to be varied; India did relatively well in 2020 but got obliterated by the Delta variant in 2021. Equally, GDP per capita steadily increased over this time, barring a dip in 2020. Population has steadily increased, and growth has steadily decreased.
India have long had a larger residual value than others in the WHR’s happiness model; they’re much less happy than their model might predict.
Without access to the raw data, it’s hard to say if Gallup’s methodology has changed over this time; India is a huge and varied country, and it’s hard to tell if Gallup maintained a similar sample over time.
Thanks for digging up that plot, I’d been looking for annual data instead of 3-year rolling averages.
Here’s what WHR say about their methodology which seems relevant.
What is your sample size?
The number of people and countries surveyed varies year to year but, in general, more than 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories participate in the Gallup World Poll each year.
In most countries, approximately 1,000 people are contacted by telephone or face-to-face each year. Tables 1-5 in the Statistical Appendix show the sample size for each country since 2005. Gallup’s website provides more details on their data collection methods. …
What time of year is the data collected?
The Gallup World Poll collects data throughout the year, taking into account religious observances, weather patterns, pandemics, war, and other local factors. Variation in collection timing is not a serious obstacle to analysis as there are established techniques to test for seasonal effects and adjust for them (see this paper for an example).
That Gallup website doesn’t say if they’ve changed their methodology over time; that said, they seem to try their best to maintain a similar sample over time, e.g.
With some exceptions, all samples are probability based and nationally representative of the resident population aged 15 and older. The coverage area is the entire country including rural areas, and the sampling frame represents the entire civilian, non-institutionalized adult population of the country.
The World Happiness Report 2025 is out!
I bang this drum a lot, but it does genuinely appear that once a country reaches the upper-middle income bracket, GDP doesn’t seem to matter much more.
Also featuring is a chapter from the Happier Lives Institute, where they compare the cost-effectiveness of improving wellbeing across multiple charities. They find that the top charities (including Pure Earth and Tamaika) might be 100x as cost-effective as others, especially those in high-income countries.
The first thing I wondered about when this report came out was: how did India do?
In that quick take I asked how India’s self-reported life satisfaction dropped an astounding −1.20 points (4.97 to 3.78) from 2011 to 2021, even as its GDP per capita rose +51% in the same period; China in contrast gained about as much self-reported life satisfaction as you’d expect given its GDP per capita rise. This “happiness catastrophe” should be alarming to folks who consider happiness and life satisfaction what ultimately matters (like HLI), since given India’s population such a drop over time adds up to roughly ~5 billion LS-years lost since 2011, very roughly ballparking (for context, and keeping in mind that LS-years and DALYs aren’t the same thing, the entire world’s DALY burden is ~2.5 billion DALYs p.a.). Even on a personal level −1.20 points is huge: 10x(!) larger than the effect of doubling income at +0.12 LS points (Clarke et al 2018 p199, via HLI’s report), and comparable to major negative life events like widowhood and extended unemployment. So it mystified me that nobody seems to be talking about it.
Last year’s WHR reported a 4.05 rating averaged over the 3-year window 2021-23, improving +0.27 points. This year’s WHR (linking to the country rankings dashboard) reports a 4.39 rating over 2022-24 i.e. +0.34 points, continuing the improvement trend. So I’m guessing this is some sort of mean reversion effect, and that the 3.78 LS averaged over 2018-20 was just anomalously low somehow...? Some commenters pointed to rising inequality and falling social support as potential factors. I still find myself confused.
Here is their plot over time, from the Chapter 2 Appendix. I think these are the raw per-year scores, not the averages.
I find this really baffling. It’s probably not political; the Modi government took power in 2014 and only lost absolute majority in late 2024. The effects of COVID seem to be varied; India did relatively well in 2020 but got obliterated by the Delta variant in 2021. Equally, GDP per capita steadily increased over this time, barring a dip in 2020. Population has steadily increased, and growth has steadily decreased.
India have long had a larger residual value than others in the WHR’s happiness model; they’re much less happy than their model might predict.
Without access to the raw data, it’s hard to say if Gallup’s methodology has changed over this time; India is a huge and varied country, and it’s hard to tell if Gallup maintained a similar sample over time.
Thanks for digging up that plot, I’d been looking for annual data instead of 3-year rolling averages.
Here’s what WHR say about their methodology which seems relevant.
That Gallup website doesn’t say if they’ve changed their methodology over time; that said, they seem to try their best to maintain a similar sample over time, e.g.
I remain as baffled as you are.
Clueless, although there are bound to be outliers and exceptions even if we don’t understand why.