TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – For the ninth time, Finland has secured the top spot in the list of the happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2026 released on March 18, 2026. The report ranks 147 countries based on factors such as social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
Other Nordic countries, such as Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, dominate the top ranks. The rankings are based on responses from approximately 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories who were asked to evaluate their lives.
The World Happiness Report is published annually by Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre around the UN International Day of Happiness, as mentioned by Forbes. Data largely comes from the Gallup World Poll.
Researchers also add assessments based on wealth, distribution, well-being, and government protection from recession risks. Northern European countries excel in these factors, making them the happiest in the world.
Costa Rica ranks fourth, achieving the highest ranking by a Latin American country on this list.
According to Travel and Leisure, researchers evaluated six factors to determine the ranking, including GDP per capita, life expectancy, generosity, and perceptions of freedom and corruption.
Social Media Impact
Researchers also examined the influence of social media on happiness. According to the report, young people in North America and Western Europe are less happy than they were 15 years ago. “Over the same period, social media use has greatly increased,” the report stated.
The report concludes that moderate use of social media, less than one hour per day, is associated with higher well-being compared to not using it at all.
A PISA study of 15-year-old students in 47 countries shows that those who use social media for more than 7 hours a day have lower well-being than those who use it for less than 1 hour. The report also surveyed US college students. “The majority wish that social media platforms did not exist. They use them because others are using them, but they would prefer it if no one did,” the report read.
Read: Social Media Makes People Unhappy – World Happiness Report
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