World Happiness Report

📊 While our author teams are busy gathering and analysing the latest data for our 2027 edition, don’t forget you already have access to over a decade’s worth of global data through our data dashboard. Read more 👉 https://mailchi.mp/worldhappiness.report/october-2026 Subscribe 👉 ow.ly/ZWzg50Zm19J

🫤 The social media debate is complex. 

 Watch the WHR editors explain our key findings on the links between happiness and social media use. 👇

🔐 We can’t lock the online world in a cupboard. Chapter 4 author Andrew Przybylski explains why we can't treat young people's social media use in isolation. 👇 https://www.worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/translating-scientific-evidence-into-effective-policies-for-health-and-technology-requires-care/

🎧 Listen to Chapter 8 chapter co-authors Zeynep Ozkok and Jonathan Rosborough dig into their #WHR2026 findings on the Live Happy Now podcast with Paula Felps. 👇 https://ow.ly/Ob9G50ZZCBF

Social media dos and don’ts. 👇 ❌ DON’T: Doomscroll for hours on end ✅ DO: Message a friend to catch up

⏯️ WATCH: What’s happening to happiness around the world? Our editors unpack the latest trends in global happiness, and reveal some surprising insights from this year's report. Watch the full conversation 👇 https://youtu.be/LXWgUJQy1TE

The happiness gap is shrinking. Kosovo’s entry into the top 20 in this year's report, where it joins Slovenia (18) and Czechia (20), signals a wider trend: the happiness gap between Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe is narrowing. ➡️⬅️

📲 In the Middle East and North Africa, multiple-platform use, following influencers, and relying on social media as a primary news source show the strongest associations with negative wellbeing outcomes. Find out more. 👇 https://ow.ly/I8Fn50ZWN4M

📱 Is social media making us happier—or harming our wellbeing? ISQOLS & the @worldhappiness.report bring together researchers to examine the evidence across countries, platforms & populations. 🎥 Watch: youtu.be/aLUunBuufIQ?... #Wellbeing #ISQOLS

Congratulations to World Happiness Report editor John Helliwell for receiving the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS)'s Distinguished Quality-of-Life Researcher Award. 👏

🚨 The Call for Abstracts for the 10th IPPA World Congress on Positive Psychology is now open! Submit your abstract by 30 November at https://www.ippaworldcongress.org/abstract

Happiness is a science. 

 It can be measured, studied, and improved. 🔬

🇨🇷 This year, Costa Rica became the first Latin American country to enter the top five on our leaderboard. With a relatively low GDP per capita, what factors might explain their happiness? Explore the data 👉 https://data.worldhappiness.report/country/CRI

📵 Ch6 of #WHR2026 notes that, after deactivating Facebook and experiencing improvements in wellbeing, people still demand money to permanently deactivate. This finding suggests people may obtain goods from social media that are not adequately captured in measures of wellbeing.

Peace is a prerequisite for happiness, and everybody deserves the opportunity to live a happy life. #InvestInPeace

📉 The wellbeing of younger generations has fallen dramatically in the Western world, but there is limited evidence of similar declines in other global regions.

You probably know that Finland is the happiest country, but do you know why? Here, our editors dive into a few reasons behind the high scores of our top-ranking countries. 👉 If Finland or Costa Rica aren’t home for you, explore your country’s data at data.worldhappiness.report!

Quantity > Quality? 😬

🗞️ The World Happiness Report hits the headlines every year, but the value of wellbeing science continues beyond the launch. WHR 2027 will show how policymakers around the world are measuring and prioritising happiness, all year round.

Across 47 countries, the lightest social media use (less than an hour a day) is associated with the highest mean life satisfaction among girls. ⬇️ After more than an hour a day of social media use, life satisfaction declines.

Finland is the world’s happiest country. But what makes it this way? Our dashboard lets you explore all of the available data from Gallup, filtered by country.👇 https://data.worldhappiness.report/country/FIN

🥇 It’s not competition that makes for a happy society, it’s mutual support.

We've observed a large fall in youth wellbeing in four mainly English-speaking countries: the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Later evidence suggests a partial echoing drop in the UK + Ireland. https://www.worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/international-evidence-on-happiness-and-social-media/

World Happiness Report 2027 will go beyond the trends in global happiness to examine how government spending across the globe can practically promote happiness.👇

↗️ A single, focused measure of life satisfaction is essential to meaningfully improve lives. Catch World Happiness Report editor John Helliwell on the Lives Well Lived podcast with Peter Singer and Kasia de Lazari Radek. 👇 https://www.petersinger.info/podcast

🎊 With America turning 250 earlier this month, we’ve been reflecting on its happiness performance. Did you know you can access all the available data for each country through our dashboard? Track your country's journey. 👇 https://data.worldhappiness.report/map

🤳 Social media use in the Middle East and North Africa is among the highest in the world, although considerable differences appear among countries. On average, heavy social media use (more than five hours per day) is associated with lower wellbeing, but the impact depends on how it is used.

In the case of social media, reviewing and translating research into policy guidance is a challenging process. Effective evidence-based policy development requires clear and accurate information on what science can and cannot tell us about key questions of societal importance.

For World Happiness Report 2027, experts from across the globe will share examples of national-level and sector-specific policies that aim to promote happiness, and examine the impact they have had. Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/pTPB50Zm19Q Subscribe 👉 https://ow.ly/ZWzg50Zm19J

What are Finland and the other Nordic countries getting right?

Ch8 of #WHR2026 finds the estimated relationship between internet use and #wellbeing varies sharply across generations, genders, and regions. It is strongly negative for Gen Z, moderately negative for Millennials, near zero for Gen X, and slightly positive for Baby Boomers.

⬆️ Since the first years of the Gallup World Poll (2006-2010), 21 countries have gained a point or more on the 0–10 scale. Most of these countries are in Central and Eastern Europe, reflecting the European happiness convergence that has been clear for more than a decade.

😕 The social media platforms that have lost sight of the ‘social’ aspect appear to be more harmful to our happiness than those that facilitate social connection. Tune into World Happiness Report editor John Helliwell on the Lives Well Lived podcast, out now. petersinger.info/podcast

😟 Three empirical studies raise serious doubts about whether social media use makes people happy. Explore the idea of social media use as a 'product trap' in Ch6 of #WHR2026, written by @casssunstein.bsky.social. 👇 https://ow.ly/j2Tf50Z9Zmx

Globally, the relationship between Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) and lower wellbeing is stronger among adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds than among their higher-status peers. Explore Ch7 of #WHR2026 👉 https://ow.ly/kHmF50Z9Ncl

Research by @casssunstein.bsky.social suggests that many people use social media because other people use social media and that, if social media use were somehow reduced or even stopped, many people believe they would be better off. Read #WHR2026 Ch 6 👉 https://ow.ly/NWGf50Z36cn

☝️ One simple question effectively captures what matters most: how satisfied people are with their lives.