This Country Has Been Named the Happiest in the World for the 8th Year in a Row, but Where Does the U.S. Rank?

Finland has been crowned the happiest country in the world once again!

According to the annual World Happiness Report, which was published on March 20 by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, the European country is leading in the standings for 2025.

This is the eighth year in a row Finland has topped the rankings, according to U.K. outlet The Independent.

The U.S. ended up in 24th place, one spot behind the U.K. According to the BBC, this is the lowest ever position for the U.S.

Countries are ranked according to people's "self-assessed life evaluations averaged over the years 2022–2024" and the rankings represent the average response to the Cantril Ladder question in the Gallup World Poll, per the annual report. In addition to the Cantril Ladder, rankings are done by sections such as ‘Donated,’ ‘Volunteered,’ ‘Helped a stranger,’ ‘Neighbor,’ ‘Wallet returned by stranger,’ and ‘Police.’

Three other Nordic countries follow behind Finland, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden in second, third and fourth place.

The Netherlands, Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg and Mexico complete the list’s top 10.

“Nordic countries once again lead the happiness rankings,” the report read. “Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden are still the top four and in the same order."

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Ilana Ron Levey, managing director at Gallup, spoke about why Finland was in the top spot again, according to CNBC.

"Finland is an extraordinary outlier and I think the world is really focused on understanding what is unique about Finland,” she said, adding that she believes Finnish people are the happiest due to their “belief in others,” future optimism, trust in institutions and support from friends and family.

“I think another important point about Finland is that there is less well-being inequality within the country as compared to a country like the United States,” she continued. “In Finland, there’s more of a consensus about feeling good about your life.”

While the list’s top four remains the same, other countries like the U.S. saw a change in their positions.

The U.S. slipped from No. 23 in last year’s rankings to No. 24, behind the U.K. and Germany, and just ahead of Belize and Poland.

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PEOPLE previously reported how last year saw the U.S. slip out of the top 20 for the first time since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012.

At the time, the report claimed that the drop could be due to younger people in North America reporting that they feel less happy than before and less happier than older people.

“For the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, happiness has decreased in all age groups, but especially for the young, so much so that the young are now, in 2021-2023, the least happy age group,” the report said at the time.