The world’s happiest countries have been named for 2026

It’s that time again: the World Happiness Report has been published for 2026, naming Finland the world’s happiest country for the ninth year in a row. 

How is the World Happiness Report ranking created?

The report is released annually by the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, in partnership with global analytics platform Gallup and the UN.

It comes up with its ranking by asking citizens across 140 countries to answer a single question about their current state of well-being, known as the Cantril Ladder. Respondents rank their quality of life on a scale that ranges from ‘the best possible life’ to ‘the worst’. Approximately 1000 people per country answer the survey.

According to the World Happiness Report’s website, ‘the Cantril Ladder empowers people to make their own judgements about what matters most, regardless of their culture and background.’

While this life evaluation question is the sole metric used to create the ranking, the report also provides data on criteria including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption levels.

What is the world’s happiest country right now?

This year, Finland triumphed again as the world’s happiest country, scoring 7.7 on life evaluation. Iceland and Denmark followed in second and third place, respectively – swapping places from last year’s ranking – and Costa Rica ranked fourth, marking the first time the Central American nation has entered the top 5. Sweden ranked fifth.

Once again, European countries dominate the ranking, with Nordic nations faring particularly well. Scroll on for the full top 20.

World Happiness Report 2026: The world’s happiest countries 

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Costa Rica
5. Sweden
6. Norway
7. Netherlands
8. Israel
9. Luxembourg
10. Switzerland
11. New Zealand
12. Mexico
13. Ireland
14. Belgium
15. Australia
16. Kosovo
17. Germany
18. Slovenia
19. Austria
20. Czechia

Did you see that the world’s 50 best cities have been named by Time Out?

Plus: The underrated capital named Europe’s ‘best creative city destination’ for 2026.

Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.