Where Data Tells the Story
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The race for the world’s happiest countries remains dominated by Northern Europe, especially Scandinavian countries, with Finland holding the top spot for a fifth straight year from 2021 to 2025. Denmark and Iceland continue to trade places just behind, while Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands also remain regular fixtures near the top.
What stands out is how stable many of the leading countries are. Rather than dramatic yearly swings, the rankings tend to reward nations that consistently perform well across key areas such as income, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom of choice, trust and overall life satisfaction.
Further down the table, there is more movement. Countries such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Slovenia and Lithuania have climbed into the top 20 in recent years, showing that happiness rankings are not reserved for only the richest nations. Strong communities, social cohesion and quality of life can matter just as much as economic size. On the other hand, Canada dropped off the top 20 after appearing consecutively for 4 years from 2021 to 2024.