The 2025 World Happiness Report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford in collaboration with Gallup, reveals that Finland maintains its position as the world’s happiest country, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Interestingly, countries experiencing ongoing conflicts, such as Israel, Ukraine, and Palestine, reported higher happiness levels than India, which ranked 118th out of 147 nations.
The report this year focuses on the theme of ‘caring and sharing,’ considering various factors such as life evaluations, GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom to make life decisions, charitable donations, and perceptions of corruption in government and business. Data from the Gallup World Poll, which asked about recent charitable actions like donations, volunteering, or helping strangers, played a significant role in these rankings. The report also considered responses from a 2019 survey asking if respondents believed a lost wallet would be returned by a stranger, neighbor, or the police.
India’s ranking of 118th in overall life evaluations marked a slight improvement from 126th in 2022 and 2023. However, India showed stronger performance in specific categories, ranking 57th for charitable donations, 10th for volunteer work, and 74th for helping strangers. When asked about the likelihood of a lost wallet being returned, India ranked 115th for neighbors, 86th for strangers, and 93rd for police.
China’s ranking fell to 68th from 60th last year, while Pakistan ranked 109th despite facing significant challenges. In contrast, war-afflicted nations like Israel (8th), Ukraine (111th), and Palestine (108th) all surpassed India in happiness rankings.
At the very bottom of the list, Afghanistan recorded the lowest happiness score, with Afghan women in particular reporting worsening living conditions. Sierra Leone (146th) and Lebanon (145th) followed closely. The United States also experienced a sharp decline, reaching its lowest ranking ever at 24th.
The report’s authors noted that subjective wellbeing measurements still rely on three primary indicators: life evaluations, positive emotions, and negative emotions. Life evaluations, which offer a more stable measure of quality of life, were emphasized for the rankings. The Gallup World Poll remained the primary data source, gathering around 1,000 responses annually per country.
Social interactions were found to play a significant role in happiness. The report highlighted that “one of the most universal ways we care and share is by sharing meals,” with individuals who regularly share meals being notably happier. The increasing trend of individuals eating alone was cited as a contributing factor to declining wellbeing in the United States.
Finally, while acts of kindness surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, the report revealed that they have since declined but remain more than 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels (2017-19). Helping strangers, in particular, saw an 18% global increase in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
