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Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the eighth year in a row, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report published by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre. The report asked people across the globe to rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10, using a three-year average to rank countries.
Researchers found Finland's average life satisfaction score was 7.736, with Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden following closely. Newcomers Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10, helped by strong family ties and social support.
The study involved more than just surveys. It included a global wallet experiment to test trust in strangers, where people dropped wallets to see how often they were returned. It turned out, people returned wallets nearly twice as often as others expected. This gap between belief and behavior revealed that trust and perceived kindness play a bigger role in happiness than previously known.
The research found that countries where people believe others care about them tend to have happier populations. “People are much happier living where they think people care about each other,” said John F. Helliwell, an economist from the University of British Columbia and one of the report’s authors. This finding highlights how everyday social trust can shape our mental wellbeing.
The report also noted that the US and UK dropped in the rankings, now placed at 24th and 23rd. Experts link this to declining social trust and growing political polarisation. Countries with strong social connections fared better, both emotionally and politically. Jeffrey D. Sachs, one of the report’s contributors, said, “Happiness is rooted in trust, kindness and social connection.”
In many cultures, small daily activities like sharing meals and spending time in saunas—as most Finns do—were associated with improved wellbeing. These social routines seem to strengthen emotional bonds and reduce loneliness. Households with four to five members showed higher happiness levels, especially in places like Mexico and parts of Europe.
This is the 13th edition of the UN-backed report, released on International Day of Happiness. Researchers say that creating happy communities starts with ordinary people choosing to connect, share, and trust each other more.
