Connect with us

Misc

A Map of Global Happiness By Country in 2024

Published

on

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

A map of the world, color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

A Map of Global Happiness By Country in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Happiness, like love, is perhaps one of the least understood and most sought-after emotions and experiences in human life.

And while many inspiring teachings exist about attaining individual happiness, it’s worthwhile to consider how happy entire countries are on a collective scale.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. — Mahatma Gandhi

We visualize the findings from the World Happiness Report 2024, an enduring attempt to measure, quantify, and compare happiness levels around the world, sourcing data from Gallup.

The Gallup World Poll surveys approximately 1,000 respondents in nearly every country on a variety of issues, one of which is to evaluate their current life on a scale from 0–10.

The World Happiness Report then averages the score from life evaluations per country over a three-year period (2021–2023 for this year’s edition) and ranks from highest to lowest. For a full breakdown of how this works, please see the end of this article.

ℹ️ The effects of cataclysmic events during a particular year can be muted, depending on both the three-year averaging and when the survey took place in the country.

Ranked: The Most & Least Happy Countries in 2024

The top 10 happiest countries—led by Finland, Denmark, and Iceland—have remained largely unchanged since 2023’s findings.

RankCountryRegionAverage Happiness
Score (2021–2023)
1🇫🇮 FinlandEurope7.7
2🇩🇰 DenmarkEurope7.6
3🇮🇸 IcelandEurope7.5
4🇸🇪 SwedenEurope7.3
5🇮🇱 IsraelMiddle East7.3
6🇳🇱 NetherlandsEurope7.3
7🇳🇴 NorwayEurope7.3
8🇱🇺 LuxembourgEurope7.1
9🇨🇭 SwitzerlandEurope7.1
10🇦🇺 AustraliaOceania7.1
11🇳🇿 New ZealandOceania7.0
12🇨🇷 Costa RicaCentral America7.0
13🇰🇼 KuwaitMiddle East7.0
14🇦🇹 AustriaEurope6.9
15🇨🇦 CanadaNorth America6.9
16🇧🇪 BelgiumEurope6.9
17🇮🇪 IrelandEurope6.8
18🇨🇿 CzechiaEurope6.8
19🇱🇹 LithuaniaEurope6.8
20🇬🇧 UKEurope6.7
21🇸🇮 SloveniaEurope6.7
22🇦🇪 UAEMiddle East6.7
23🇺🇸 U.S.North America6.7
24🇩🇪 GermanyEurope6.7
25🇲🇽 MexicoNorth America6.7
26🇺🇾 UruguaySouth America6.6
27🇫🇷 FranceEurope6.6
28🇸🇦 Saudi ArabiaMiddle East6.6
29🇽🇰 KosovoEurope6.6
30🇸🇬 SingaporeAsia6.5
31🇹🇼 TaiwanAsia6.5
32🇷🇴 RomaniaEurope6.5
33🇸🇻 El SalvadorCentral America6.5
34🇪🇪 EstoniaEurope6.4
35🇵🇱 PolandEurope6.4
36🇪🇸 SpainEurope6.4
37🇷🇸 SerbiaEurope6.4
38🇨🇱 ChileSouth America6.4
39🇵🇦 PanamaCentral America6.4
40🇲🇹 MaltaEurope6.3
41🇮🇹 ItalyEurope6.3
42🇬🇹 GuatemalaCentral America6.3
43🇳🇮 NicaraguaCentral America6.3
44🇧🇷 BrazilSouth America6.3
45🇸🇰 SlovakiaEurope6.3
46🇱🇻 LatviaEurope6.2
47🇺🇿 UzbekistanAsia6.2
48🇦🇷 ArgentinaSouth America6.2
49🇰🇿 KazakhstanAsia6.2
50🇨🇾 CyprusEurope6.1
51🇯🇵 JapanAsia6.1
52🇰🇷 South KoreaAsia6.1
53🇵🇭 PhilippinesAsia6.0
54🇻🇳 VietnamAsia6.0
55🇵🇹 PortugalEurope6.0
56🇭🇺 HungaryEurope6.0
57🇵🇾 ParaguaySouth America6.0
58🇹🇭 ThailandAsia6.0
59🇲🇾 MalaysiaAsia6.0
60🇨🇳 ChinaAsia6.0
61🇭🇳 HondurasCentral America6.0
62🇧🇭 BahrainMiddle East6.0
63🇭🇷 CroatiaEurope5.9
64🇬🇷 GreeceEurope5.9
65🇧🇦 Bosnia &
Herzegovina
Europe5.9
66🇱🇾 LibyaAfrica5.9
67🇯🇲 JamaicaNorth America5.8
68🇵🇪 PeruSouth America5.8
69🇩🇴 Dominican RepublicCentral America5.8
70🇲🇺 MauritiusAfrica5.8
71🇲🇩 MoldovaEurope5.8
72🇷🇺 RussiaEurope5.8
73🇧🇴 BoliviaSouth America5.8
74🇪🇨 EcuadorSouth America5.7
75🇰🇬 KyrgyzstanAsia5.7
76🇲🇪 MontenegroEurope5.7
77🇲🇳 MongoliaAsia5.7
78🇨🇴 ColombiaSouth America5.7
79🇻🇪 VenezuelaSouth America5.6
80🇮🇩 IndonesiaAsia5.6
81🇧🇬 BulgariaEurope5.5
82🇦🇲 ArmeniaAsia5.5
83🇿🇦 South AfricaAfrica5.4
84🇲🇰 North MacedoniaEurope5.4
85🇩🇿 AlgeriaAfrica5.4
86🇭🇰 Hong KongAsia5.3
87🇦🇱 AlbaniaEurope5.3
88🇹🇯 TajikistanAsia5.3
89🇨🇬 CongoAfrica5.2
90🇲🇿 MozambiqueAfrica5.2
91🇬🇪 GeorgiaEurope5.2
92🇮🇶 IraqMiddle East5.2
93🇳🇵 NepalAsia5.2
94🇱🇦 LaosAsia5.1
95🇬🇦 GabonAfrica5.1
96🇨🇮 Ivory CoastAfrica5.1
97🇬🇳 GuineaAfrica5.0
98🇹🇷 TurkeyAsia5.0
99🇸🇳 SenegalAfrica5.0
100🇮🇷 IranMiddle East4.9
101🇦🇿 AzerbaijanAsia4.9
102🇳🇬 NigeriaAfrica4.9
103🇵🇸 PalestineMiddle East4.9
104🇨🇲 CameroonAfrica4.9
105🇺🇦 UkraineEurope4.9
106🇳🇦 NamibiaAfrica4.8
107🇲🇦 MoroccoAfrica4.8
108🇵🇰 PakistanAsia4.7
109🇳🇪 NigerAfrica4.6
110🇧🇫 Burkina FasoAfrica4.5
111🇲🇷 MauritaniaAfrica4.5
112🇬🇲 GambiaAfrica4.5
113🇹🇩 ChadAfrica4.5
114🇰🇪 KenyaAfrica4.5
115🇹🇳 TunisiaAfrica4.4
116🇧🇯 BeninAfrica4.4
117🇺🇬 UgandaAfrica4.4
118🇲🇲 MyanmarAsia4.4
119🇰🇭 CambodiaAsia4.3
120🇬🇭 GhanaAfrica4.3
121🇱🇷 LiberiaAfrica4.3
122🇲🇱 MaliAfrica4.2
123🇲🇬 MadagascarAfrica4.2
124🇹🇬 TogoAfrica4.2
125🇯🇴 JordanMiddle East4.2
126🇮🇳 IndiaAsia4.1
127🇪🇬 EgyptAfrica4.0
128🇱🇰 Sri LankaAsia3.9
129🇧🇩 BangladeshAsia3.9
130🇪🇹 EthiopiaAfrica3.9
131🇹🇿 TanzaniaAfrica3.8
132🇰🇲 ComorosAfrica3.6
133🇾🇪 YemenMiddle East3.6
134🇿🇲 ZambiaAfrica3.5
135🇸🇿 EswatiniAfrica3.5
136🇲🇼 MalawiAfrica3.4
137🇧🇼 BotswanaAfrica3.4
138🇿🇼 ZimbabweAfrica3.3
139🇨🇩 DRCAfrica3.3
140🇸🇱 Sierra LeoneAfrica3.2
141🇱🇸 LesothoAfrica3.2
142🇱🇧 LebanonMiddle East2.7
143🇦🇫 AfghanistanAsia1.7

However the top 20 has some new entrants—Costa Rica and Kuwait—matched by the departures of the U.S. and Germany from the same ranks.

A correlation between population size and happiness can be seen clearly when looking at the first 20 spots on the happiness rankings.

In the top 10 only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million. In the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations over 30 million.

Afghanistan, ranked last, has the lowest happiness on the scale (1.7) and is the only Asian country in the bottom 10, which is mostly populated by nations in Africa.

We explore some regional highlights as well:

Happiness Levels in North & South America and Europe

A map of North America color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

Previously mentioned Costa Rica, ranked 12th, is North and Central America’s happiest country, beating Canada by a 0.1 score, or three ranks.

The report highlights an interesting phenomenon for the two most developed economies in the region, the U.S., (23rd) and Canada (15th), where the old are significantly more happy than the young, a pattern seen in Nordic Europe as well.

The Dominican Republic continues to be the least happy country in the region, but it’s worthwhile noting it’s still happier than more than half of the other nations in the dataset.

A map of South America color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

Uruguay, ranked 26th, once again leads South America’s happiest countries, and is in the fifth-happiest in the entire Americas, beaten only by Mexico, the U.S., Canada, and Costa Rica.

And, once again, Venezuela, ranked 79th, is South America’s unhappiest country, despite climbing more than 29 spots in the last two editions of this report.

While recent trends are encouraging, the Venezuelan populace is still significantly unhappier than in 2010, a full point lower on the scale, and the fourth-worst fall in the dataset.

A map of Europe color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

Aside from the top happiness ranks populated by small, wealthy European nations, the report also notes that the continent is seeing a convergence in happiness levels between Central & Eastern Europe and Western Europe—when in previous decades Western Europe was significantly happier.

In fact those under the age of 30 are equally happy across the continent, with only the older age groups seeing a gap.

Ukraine, now with two full years of battling the Russian invasion, is the unhappiest country in Europe, ranked 105th overall.

Happiness Levels in Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa

A map of Central Asia and the Middle East, color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

In the Middle East and Central Asia, Israel, at fifth place, leads the region’s happiness levels, dropping one spot since 2023.

The report notes that Gallup’s survey in Israel occurred after October 7th, but before much of the subsequent warfare. Thus, life evaluations fell by 0.9 for the year, of which only one-third impacted their final score.

However, the survey in Palestine (ranked 103rd globally) took place earlier in the year, before October 7th.

In Central Asia, Afghanistan’s happiness is not only the lowest measured in the world, its score has also halved since 2010, the worst of all countries in the same time period.

A map of Asia and Oceania color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

Meanwhile, in South and East Asia, Singapore (30th) and Taiwan (31st), are well ahead of regional economic heavyweights, China (60th), Japan (51st), and India (126th), when it comes to happiness levels.

In Oceania, Australia (10th) and New Zealand (11th), happiness dispersion mirrors the U.S., Canada, and the Nordics, in that the old are much happier than the young.

A map of Africa color-coded by the average happiness level in each country.

The world’s second largest continent, Africa, accounts for nine of the bottom 10 least happiest countries in the world, many of them clustered around Africa’s Great Lakes.

Lesotho is the unhappiest country in Africa and third-worst overall. The country’s residents often immigrate to neighboring South Africa, both in search of opportunities as well as escaping persistent food insecurity from recurring droughts.

On the other hand, Africa’s happiest country, Libya has seen a resurgence in political stability recently. The country’s second civil war ended in 2020, and recently the three main ruling factions have agreed on a framework for a unified government.

Where does this data come from?

Source: The World Happiness Report which leverages data from the Gallup World Poll.

Methodology: A nationally representative group of approximately 1,000 people is asked a series of questions relating to their life satisfaction, as well as positive and negative emotions they are experiencing. The life evaluation question is based on the Cantril ladder, wherein the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for a person (a score of 10/10) and on the flipside, the worst possible life (scored as 0/10). The main takeaway is that the scores result from self-reported answers by citizens of each of these countries. The results received a confidence interval of 95%, meaning that there is a 95% chance that the answers and population surveyed represent the average. As well, scores are averaged over the past three years in order to increase the sample size of respondents in each country.

Criticisms: Critics of the World Happiness Report point out that survey questions measure satisfaction with socioeconomic conditions as opposed to individual emotional happiness. As well, there are myriad cultural differences around the world that influence how people think about happiness and life satisfaction. Finally, there can be big differences in life satisfaction between groups within a country, which are averaged out even in a nationally representative group. The report does acknowledge inequality as a factor by measuring the “gap” between the most and least happy halves of each country.

Click for Comments
Range ETFs Display Ad

Subscribe

Popular