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Americans under 30 are so miserable that the U.S. just fell to a historic low ranking in the annual World Happiness Report

Fortune

The United States has a happiness problem.

In the World Happiness Report’s annual ranking of the happiest countries, the U.S. dropped to no.24, its lowest position in the list’s 13-year history. Last year, the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 for the first time. The list is compiled from analysis of how a representative sample of residents from over 140 countries rate their quality of life.

“That gradual decline in well-being in the United States is, if you start digging into it, especially driven by people that are below 30,” Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics at the University of Oxford, leader of the Wellbeing Research Center and editor of The World Happiness Report, tells Fortune. “Life satisfaction of young people in the U.S. has declined.”

Americans’ increasing antisocial habits, explained in one chart

Vox

“The extent to which one shares meals,” says Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, a professor of economics and behavioral science at the University of Oxford and co-editor of the World Happiness Report, “is an extraordinary proxy for measuring people’s social connections and their social capital. It underpins people’s social support. It drives prosocial behaviors, and all of that, in turn, leads it to be a very strong indicator — predictor — for people’s life satisfaction.”

US drops to record low in 2025 World Happiness Report

USA Today

The United States is continuing its downward path on the global World Happiness Report, having dropped to a record low on the global rankings list.

Last year, the U.S. fell out of the top 20 for the first time in the report’s history, landing at No. 23. The 2025 report, published Thursday, shows Americans dropping another level down to No. 24.

Several organizations conduct the annual report that ranks countries from the most to least overall happiness. Once again, Nordic countries lead the list, dominating the top 4 spots.

The World Happiness Report also shares illuminating information such as the fact that declining joy and social trust is a contributor to a rise of political polarization in the U.S. and parts of Europe.

2025 World Happiness Report shows U.S. in lowest-ever spot on list

CBS News

The United States this year fell to its lowest-ever place on the World Happiness Report, which highlights the positive effects benevolence and social connections have on people’s life satisfaction.

Finland remained the happiest nation for the eighth year in a row, while Mexico and Costa Rico ranked among the top 10 for the first time since the report was first published in 2012.

This year’s report, which was released Wednesday by Gallup and its partners, ranks 147 countries by their happiness levels — based on a population’s average assessment of their quality of life from 2022 to 2024.

Researchers found that the belief in the kindness of others, as well as actively caring about and sharing with others, has strong effects on happiness, according to the report.

These are the world’s happiest countries in 2025

CNN

The world’s happiest country has managed to keep its No. 1 ranking for eight years running. The picture in the United States isn’t so rosy.

While Finland once again tops the World Happiness Report’s rankings, the United States — at No. 24 — earned its lowest ranking yet in the 2025 report. The 13th edition of the annual report marks the United Nations International Day of Happiness on March 20.

In the United States and parts of Europe, declining happiness and social trust have contributed significantly to the rise of political polarization and votes against “the system,” the report finds.

But in brighter news, global research shows that people are much kinder than we expect.

Where Does The UK Rank In Happiness? This Report Paints A Grim Picture

Huffington Post

The report found that, despite the UK being the sixth richest nation in the world, we have fallen to 23rd place in global rankings. The US has also fallen to its lowest position, now sitting at 24th place.

Meanwhile, Finland is reportedly the happiest place in the world for the eighth year in a row.

Young Americans lose trust in the state

Financial Times

Young Americans’ confidence in the apparatus of government has dropped dramatically to one of the lowest levels in any prosperous country, a Financial Times analysis of Gallup data shows.

The Gallup polls, conducted by surveying 70,000 people globally over the course of 2023 and 2024, found that less than a third of under-30s in the US trust the government. The proportion of US young people who said they lack freedom to choose what to do with their lives also hit a record high at 31 per cent in 2024 — a level worse than all other rich economies, bar Greece and Italy.

New report shows Australia slide down rankings of the world’s happiest nations – while one unassuming country takes the crown

Mail Online

Australia is no longer one of the top 10 happiest countries in the world according to a new global study.

The University of Oxford released its latest Global Happiness Ranking report on Thursday.

Finland clinched the top spot for the eighth year running, while Australia landed at number 11, slipping one spot from number 10 in 2024.

Finland again tops global happiness rankings, US falls to lowest position ever

France 24

Finland is ranked the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.

Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.

Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Happiest country in the world revealed – and one where a stranger’s most likely to return a lost wallet

Sky News

Strangers are about twice as kind as people think, according to a UN-backed report on global happiness.

Researchers for the World Happiness Report used lost wallets as an experiment to measure people’s expectations versus reality when it came to the kindness of strangers.

They found that people returned lost wallets at double the rate members of the public thought they would.

Believing in the kindness of strangers also had a much bigger impact on happiness than previously thought.

It even had a bigger impact on happiness than actual or expected harm.