Washington (EFE) .- Mexico and Costa Rica debuted among the 10 happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2025, which keeps Nordic countries as leaders, with Finland leading the table for the eighth consecutive year.
Finland (the first), Denmark (2), Iceland (3) and Sweden (4) retain their positions at the top of the list, something that also happens with the last position, Afghanistan (147). According to the study, its population expressed high levels of unhappiness, especially women.
The report, whose publication coincides with the International Day of Happiness (March 20), is the result of a collaboration between the Gallup consultant, the Research Center on the Welfare of the University of Oxford, the Network of Solutions for the Sustainable Development of the United Nations and the Editorial Board of the Report.
This year’s edition was focused on studying, in addition to the traditional list, the impact of care and sharing happiness with other people.
One of the conclusions is that although the acts of generosity increased during the Covid-19 pandemic these have lost strength, which, according to experts, affects worldwide well-being because these acts are engines of collective happiness.
“Being kind and waiting for the kindness of others are factors that predict happiness with more force than avoiding important negative events, such as crime or economic difficulties,” says the document.
In addition, the study reveals that people are friendlier than we expect collectively.
On the premise of whether someone would return a lost portfolio or if they believe they would be returned, they detected that people are “too pessimistic” compared to reality: “The real portfolio return rates are approximately twice what people expect,” the report concludes.
The Nordics are the happiest and those who expect the rest.
Latin American debut in the ‘Top 10’
While in the previous edition no Latin American country managed to place himself among the best positions, in this year Costa Rica (6) and Mexico (10) do so for the first time.
From a regional perspective, they are followed by Belize (25), Uruguay (28), Brazil (36), El Salvador (37), Panama (41), Argentina (42), Guatemala (44), Chile (45), Nicaragua (47), Paraguay (54), Colombia (61), Ecuador (62), Honduras (63) and Peru (65).
Venezuela goes down from 79 to 82 and remains as the country in Latin America with the worst position.
I less and less happy
The United States records its worst mark on the list, going down to 24th place, after occupying 11 in the year 2011.
Among other things, the document indicates that the percentage of people who eat alone in the US in the last two decades have grown 53 %. A fact that stands out because it reflects an individualism contrary to its thesis that sharing brings happiness.
Some European countries such as Lithuania (16) and Slovenia (19) register important increases. In fact, the countries that have won the most points in the last count are all in Central and Eastern Europe: Serbia (31), Romania (35), Latvia (51), Bulgaria (85) and Georgia (91).
The Netherlands rise to fifth place and next to Norway (7) and Luxembourg (9), complete the group of Europeans in the top 10.
However, other countries of the continent record worse results.
Spain, on the other hand, stays in 38 and continues the downward trend since 2021 (when it occupied position 24).
Germany, which last year descended until 24, recovers two positions, followed by the United Kingdom (23), Poland (26), France (33), Italy (40), Malta (48) and Portugal (60).
Russia, at war from 2022 with Ukraine, goes from 72 to 66, while Ukraine drops six positions (11); Israel, who continues to bombard Gaza after Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, lowers three positions to the eighth square and Palestine goes from 103 to 108.
These classifications are extracted from an average of three years from the evaluation of the quality of life. They are studied from GDP to life expectancy, the feeling of freedom, the perception of corruption and having someone to count.
With EFE information
Follow us on Google News to always keep you informed
