CNBC.COM
Finland ranked as the world's happiest country for the ninth straight year in the 2026 World Happiness Report.
The rankings are based on the Gallup World Poll, which surveys at least 1,000 people in each of 147 countries, asking them to rate their lives on a scale from 0 (the worst possible) to 10 (the best possible). The U.S. came in 23rd place with a score of 6.81.
At its core, the survey asks whether people are satisfied with how their lives are going, says Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, which publishes the World Happiness Report.
Here are the top 10 happiest countries:
- Finland (7.76)
- Iceland (7.54)
- Denmark (7.53)
- Costa Rica (7.43)
- Sweden (7.25)
- Norway (7.24)
- Netherlands (7.22)
- Israel (7.18)
- Luxembourg (7.06)
- Switzerland (7.01)
'Finland does a lot of things right'
To explain differences in scores, researchers identified six key factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
"Finland does a lot of things right," says De Neve. "They have high wealth and redistribute it. They have great social support. They trust each other and trust the institutions. They've got healthy life expectancy and a great public healthcare system."
In Finland, both parents are entitled to more than five months of paid parental leave, with an additional 40 days of paid leave for the pregnant parent. The government also offers housing support and universal healthcare.
Many of the other countries in the top 10 also offer paid parental leave and universal healthcare.
One overlooked factor behind happiness: age
Some aspects of well-being are harder to measure in statistics but still contribute to overall happiness.
In Finland, "I think what sets them apart from the Icelandic, the Danes, the Norwegians," says De Neve, "is an even stronger connection to nature, perhaps. They love their saunas," many of which can be found outside.
The Gallup World Poll data is weighted by national averages, which can skew results depending on age. Finland, Denmark and other Nordic countries have older populations, notes Tara Thiagarajan, founder and chief scientist of research nonprofit Sapien Labs.
The median age in Finland is nearly 43, compared with 38.4 in the U.S., according to the CIA World Factbook. Older people tend to report higher levels of well-being, says Thiagarajan.
Sapien Labs recently released its Global Mind Health report, looking at where and why people across the world are able to thrive.
They found that "older people had better family relationships, closer family relationships," she says. "They were more spiritual. They did not grow up with smartphones. They did not eat and they still don't eat ultra processed food."
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