Costa Rica, Mexico debut in top 10 happiest nations, led by the Nordics

Washington, (EFE).- Costa Rica and Mexico are among the world’s top 10 happiest countries for the first time, according to the World Happiness Report 2025, in which Finland topped the list for the eighth consecutive year.

The Nordic countries, Finland (1), Denmark (2), Iceland (3), and Sweden (4), retained their positions at the top of the list, while Afghanistan (147) took last place. According to the study, its population reported high levels of unhappiness, especially among women.

The report, whose publication coincides with the International Day of Happiness (Mar. 20), is the result of a collaboration between Gallup consulting firm, the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Center, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the report’s editorial board.

This year’s edition focused on studying, in addition to the traditional list, the impact of caring and sharing happiness with others.

One of the main conclusions is that although acts of generosity increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, they have lost momentum, which, according to experts, affects global wellbeing because these acts are drivers of collective happiness.

“One of the report’s most striking revelations is that being kind and expecting kindness from others—believing that your wallet would be returned if you lost it—are stronger predictors of happiness than avoiding major negative events like crime or economic hardship,” the document notes.

“In other words, believing in the goodwill of those around us can have a bigger impact on our wellbeing than earning a higher salary.”

Furthermore, the study reveals that people are kinder than we collectively expect. Regarding the premise of whether someone would return a lost wallet or whether they believe it would be returned, they found that people are “far too pessimistic about the benevolence of others” with results doubling expectations.

Nordic people are the happiest and those who expect the most kindness from others.

While in the previous edition, no Latin American country managed to place among the top 10, this year Costa Rica (6) and Mexico (10) do so for the first time.

The United States recorded its worst standing ever recorded, falling to 24th place, after occupying 11th place in 2011.

Among other things, the document notes that the percentage of people who eat alone in the US has grown by 53 percent over the past two decades. This figure is highlighted because it reflects an individualism that runs counter to their thesis that sharing brings happiness.

Some European countries, such as Lithuania (16) and Slovenia (19), are recording significant increases in happiness. In fact, the countries that have gained the most points in the latest count are all in Central and Eastern Europe: Serbia (31), Romania (35), Latvia (51), Bulgaria (85), and Georgia (91).

The Netherlands rises to 5th place and, along with Norway (7) and Luxembourg (9), completes the European group in the top 10.

However, other countries on the continent are recording worse results.

Spain, for its part, remains in 38th place, continuing the downward trend it has seen since 2021 (when it ranked 24th). Germany, which dropped to 24th last year, regains two positions, followed by the United Kingdom (23), Poland (26), France (33), Italy (40), Malta (48), and Portugal (60).

“Declining happiness and social trust in the US and parts of Europe combine to explain the rise and direction of political polarization and anti-system votes,” the report says.

Russia, at war with Ukraine since 2022, moves from 72nd to 66th, while Ukraine drops six positions (11). Israel, which continues bombing Gaza, drops three positions to 8th; and Palestine drops from 103rd to 108th.

At the bottom is Afghanistan (147), Sierra Leone (146), Lebanon (145), Malawi (144) and Zimbabwe (143).

These rankings are taken from a three-year average of the quality of life assessment. They examine everything from GDP to life expectancy, the sense of freedom, perceptions of corruption, and having someone to count on. EFE