As Scandinavian nations continue to dominate the annual World Happiness Report, the latest study has seen Switzerland rank in its worst position ever. While the alpine nation remains one of the happiest countries on Earth, it no longer features in the top 10.

World Happiness Report 2025

For 2025, experts from the Gallup polling agency, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the United Nations and the report’s editorial board analysed 147 countries around the world, to see which countries’ residents are the happiest. To place each nation on the list, data was sourced for a series of surveys, in which respondents were told to rate their happiness on a scale of one to 10.

In this case, happiness refers to general satisfaction with life, working and living standards, rather than pure joy. Using the results of the survey, and an average of previous results from the last three years, the ranking then estimated how six different factors impact happiness in each nation:

• Social support
• GDP per capita
• Healthy life expectancy
• Freedom
• Generosity
• Perceptions of corruption

All nations included in the study were then assigned a score out of 10, which was then compared to a benchmark set by Dystopia - an imaginary country home to the world’s least happy people. In 2025, as part of its annual theme of “caring and sharing”, survey respondents were also asked whether they had donated to charity, helped a stranger or volunteered in the recent past.

Happiness in large industrialised countries continues to decline

Worldwide, the report noted that practices that are known to cause sadness and loneliness are becoming more common. In one example, they noted that while people who live in groups of four to five people are the happiest in Europe, the number of people living alone on the continent has soared.

Another trend is the decline in happiness among people in large industrialised nations. For the first time since the ranking was conceived, none of the traditional large economies like the United Kingdom, United States, France or Germany featured in the top 20.

Nordic countries continue to dominate the happiness ranking

Nevertheless, the Nordic nations continue to be rated as the happiest places on Earth. Finland took the top spot for 2025, securing its eighth title in a row, followed by the usual suspects of Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. The best non-Nordic country was the Netherlands, which rose one place to rank fifth.

Though it did not place first in any category, Finland was rated highly for strong social support links, equality and a lack of corruption. The only stumbling block for the nation came in how generous respondents believe people to be, placing 56th in the world.

Switzerland reports worst score ever in World Happiness Index

Having come first in 2015, and maintained on and off podium finishes until 2021, Switzerland has continued to plummet down the World Happiness Index. The country now ranks 13th, a drop of four places compared to 2024 and its worst position ever. In fact, happiness in Switzerland has declined at the 16th fastest rate on Earth since 2012.

While the report did not go into detail about why Switzerland continues to perform poorly, its worst score was when respondents were asked whether they viewed the country positively. The alpine nation also scored badly when it came to whether people felt a sense of freedom and social support.

This picture is borne out through other studies: the latest Expat Insider Survey from InterNations, for example, found that while salaries and quality of life are the main draws, the ease of settling in and making friends in the community are some of the hardest things to do in Switzerland. 

People in Switzerland the eighth happiest in Europe

However, there are some positives, with Switzerland rated as the happiest country in the DACH region and the eighth happiest in Europe. Respondents gave the country high scores for equality and perceptions of corruption, while Switzerland’s high GDP per capita scores helped it secure a place in the top 20.

The country was also far in front of the least happiest countries on Earth. In 2025, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Malawi and Zimbabwe made up the bottom five. 

The 10 happiest countries of 2025 revealed

In all, here are the 10 happiest countries on Earth as of 2025:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. The Netherlands
6. Costa Rica
7. Norway
8. Israel 
9. Luxembourg
10. Mexico

For more information, and to see where other countries ranked, check out the official website.

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