The average for 2024 based on 138 countries was 5.56 points. The highest value was in Finland: 7.74 points and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 1.72 points. The indicator is available from 2013 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Finland was ranked the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report from 2024. The Nordic country scored 7.74 on a scale from 0 to 10. Two other Nordic countries, Denmark and Iceland, followed in second and third place, respectively. The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. Criticism The index has received criticism from different perspectives. Some argue that it is impossible to measure general happiness in a country. Others argue that the index places too much emphasis on material well-being as well as freedom from oppression. As a result, the Happy Planet Index was introduced, which takes life expectancy, experienced well-being, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint into account. Here, Costa Rica was ranked as the happiest country in the world. Afghanistan is the least happy country Nevertheless, most people agree that high levels of poverty, lack of access to food and water, as well as a prevalence of conflict are factors hindering public happiness. Hence, it comes as no surprise that Afghanistan was ranked as the least happy country in the world in 2024. The South Asian country is ridden by poverty and undernourishment, and topped the Global Terrorism Index in 2023.

The average for 2024 based on 138 countries was 5.56 points. The highest value was in Finland: 7.74 points and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 1.72 points. The indicator is available from 2013 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Libya was ranked the happiest country in Africa, according to the World Happiness Report for 2024. This nation scored 5.87 points on a scale from 0 to 10 and ranked 66th among 143 countries globally. Worldwide, Finland is considered to be the happiest country. The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The measurement of subjective well-being relies on three main indicators: life evaluations, positive emotions, and negative emotions.

Afghanistan was ranked the least happy country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report from 2025. The country scored only 1.36 on a scale from 0 to 10. Afghanistan has been troubled by low levels of human development, and the situation in the country has worsened for many after the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021. Sierra Leone and Lebanon were ranked as the second and third least happy countries in the world, respectively. The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.

Context

Happiness and well-being are essential indicators of societal progress, often influenced by economic conditions such as GDP and inflation. This dataset combines data from the World Happiness Index (WHI) and inflation metrics to explore the relationship between economic stability and happiness levels across 148 countries from 2015 to 2023. By analyzing key economic indicators alongside social well-being factors, this dataset provides insights into global prosperity trends.

Content

This dataset is provided in CSV format and includes 16 columns, covering both happiness-related features and economic indicators such as GDP per capita, inflation rates, and corruption perception. The main columns include:

Happiness Score & Rank (World Happiness Index ranking per country) Economic Indicators (GDP per capita, inflation metrics) Social Factors (Freedom, Social Support, Generosity) Geographical Information (Country & Continent)

Acknowledgements

The dataset is created using publicly available data from World Happiness Report, Gallup World Poll, and the World Bank. It has been structured for research, machine learning, and policy analysis purposes.

Inspiration

How do economic factors like inflation, GDP, and corruption affect happiness? Can we predict a country's happiness score based on economic conditions? This dataset allows you to analyze these relationships and build models to predict well-being trends worldwide.

The average for 2024 based on 48 countries was 6.62 points. The highest value was in Finland: 7.74 points and the lowest value was in Hong Kong: 5.32 points. The indicator is available from 2013 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Colombia: Happiness Index, 0 (unhappy) - 10 (happy): The latest value from 2024 is 5.7 points, a decline from 5.89 points in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 5.56 points, based on data from 138 countries. Historically, the average for Colombia from 2013 to 2024 is 6.1 points. The minimum value, 5.63 points, was reached in 2022 while the maximum of 6.48 points was recorded in 2015.

The average for 2024 based on 18 countries was 6.16 points. The highest value was in Costa Rica: 6.96 points and the lowest value was in Venezuela: 5.61 points. The indicator is available from 2013 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

According to the UN's World Happiness Report, China's happiness index ranged at 5.97 points in 2024. China ranked 60th out of 143 countries. Finland, Denmark, and other European countries held the top spots in the ranking, while Afghanistan stayed at the bottom of the list. What is the happiness index? The happiness index is based on a Cantril ladder survey which is carried out annually worldwide by the polling company Gallup. Nationally representative samples of respondents are asked to value the quality of their lives at the survey moment on a 0 to 10 scale, with the worst possible life as zero and the best possible life as ten. The first World Happiness Report was published in 2012, and since then, governments are increasingly using its insights to orient public policies towards happiness. Surge in happiness in China In 2024, the happiness index in China was the highest since the beginning of the survey series. The growth in the sense of happiness has been consistent over the years except for a short period of 2018-2019. As happiness is hard to quantify, the reasons behind the dip in the curve during that time can only be hypothesized. The happiness index of 5.19 points in 2019, which was in the lower 50 percentile, did not seem to correlate with any of the usual suspects: the GDP growth, pollution levels, corruption or the perception of it, or even income inequality. The possible factors that could have affected people’s happiness were unemployment, insufficient social safety net, and several political issues. However, the country saw a surge in the sense of happiness from 2021 onwards. Successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic that gave a greater feeling of security, fast economic recovery, and increase in the national pride could have been a few of the reasons behind the recent rising optimism in China.

During 2018 to 2020, New Zealand came first in the Asia Pacific region in the world happiness ranking with a score of 7.28, closely followed by Australia with a score of 7.18. Comparatively, Afghanistan ranked last from selected Asia Pacific countries with a score of 2.52. The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranked 149 countries from 2018 to 2020 by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.

Context:

The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness . The report continues to gain global recognition as governments, organizations and civil society increasingly use happiness indicators to inform their policy-making decisions. Leading experts across fields – economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, health, public policy and more – describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations. The reports review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.

Content:

Here's a brief explanation of each column in the dataset: 1. Country name: Name of the country. 2. Regional indicator: Region to which the country belongs. 3. Ladder score: The happiness score for each country, based on responses to the Cantril Ladder question that asks respondents to think of a ladder, with the best possible life for them being a 10, and the worst possible life being a 0. 4. Upper whisker: Upper bound of the happiness score. 5. Lower whisker: Lower bound of the happiness score. 6. Log GDP per capita: The natural logarithm of the country's GDP per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) to account for differences in the cost of living between countries. 7. Social support: The national average of binary responses(either 0 or 1 representing No/Yes) to the question about having relatives or friends to count on in times of trouble. 8. Healthy life expectancy: The average number of years a newborn infant would live in good health, based on mortality rates and life expectancy at different ages. 9. Freedom to make life choices: The national average of responses to the question about satisfaction with freedom to choose what to do with one's life. 10. Generosity: The residual of regressing the national average of responses to the question about donating money to charity on GDP per capita. 11. Perceptions of corruption: The national average of survey responses to questions about the perceived extent of corruption in the government and businesses. 12. Dystopia + residual: Dystopia is an imaginary country with the world’s least-happy people, used as a benchmark for comparison. The dystopia + residual score is a combination of the Dystopia score and the unexplained residual for each country, ensuring that the combined score is always positive. Each of these factors contributes to the overall happiness score, but the Dystopia + residual value is a benchmark that ensures no country has a lower score than the hypothetical Dystopia. 13. Positive affect: The national average of responses to questions about positive emotions experienced yesterday. 14. Negative affect: The national average of responses to questions about negative emotions experienced yesterday.

Turkey: Happiness Index, 0 (unhappy) - 10 (happy): The latest value from 2024 is 4.98 points, an increase from 4.61 points in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 5.56 points, based on data from 138 countries. Historically, the average for Turkey from 2013 to 2024 is 5.17 points. The minimum value, 4.61 points, was reached in 2022 while the maximum of 5.5 points was recorded in 2017.

El Salvador: Happiness Index, 0 (unhappy) - 10 (happy): The latest value from 2024 is 6.47 points, a decline from 6.49 points in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 5.56 points, based on data from 138 countries. Historically, the average for El Salvador from 2013 to 2024 is 6.15 points. The minimum value, 5.81 points, was reached in 2013 while the maximum of 6.49 points was recorded in 2023.

According to the Happy Planet Index's ranking of the happiest and most environmentally sustainable countries in the world, Costa Rica was ranked as the happiest country in 2021, followed by Vanuatu and Colombia. The Happy Planet Index measures life expectancy, experienced well-being, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint in order to determine the countries that are able to deliver the longest and happiest, but also most sustainable lives to their residents. The Index works to measure efficiency by ranking countries relative to how they offer their people long and happy lives, for each unit of environmental output.

This dataset contains 4,000 entries with 24 columns related to happiness, economic, social, and political indicators for different countries across multiple years.

Columns Overview: Country: Name of the country.

Year: The year of the record.

Happiness_Score: A numerical value indicating the happiness level.

GDP_per_Capita: Economic output per person.

Social_Support: Level of social connections and support.

Healthy_Life_Expectancy: Average life expectancy with good health.

Freedom: Perceived freedom in decision-making.

Generosity: A measure of charitable behavior.

Corruption_Perception: Perception of corruption in society.

Unemployment_Rate: Percentage of unemployed individuals.

Education_Index: A measure of education quality.

Population: Total population of the country.

Urbanization_Rate: Percentage of people living in urban areas.

Life_Satisfaction: A subjective measure of well-being.

Public_Trust: Confidence in public institutions.

Mental_Health_Index: A measure of overall mental health.

Income_Inequality: Economic disparity metric.

Public_Health_Expenditure: Government spending on health.

Climate_Index: A measure of climate conditions.

Work_Life_Balance: An index measuring work-life balance.

Internet_Access: Percentage of population with internet.

Crime_Rate: Reported crime level.

Political_Stability: A measure of political security.

Employment_Rate: Percentage of employed individuals.

Niger: Happiness Index, 0 (unhappy) - 10 (happy): The latest value from 2024 is 4.56 points, an increase from 4.5 points in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 5.56 points, based on data from 138 countries. Historically, the average for Niger from 2013 to 2024 is 4.39 points. The minimum value, 3.85 points, was reached in 2015 while the maximum of 5.07 points was recorded in 2020.

In the Happy Planet Index's ranking of the unhappiest and least environmentally sustainable countries in the world from 2021, Qatar ranked highest with a score of only 24.3. Even though Qatar is a rich country with high scores of well-being and life expectancy, its ecological footprint is extremely poor, pulling down its index score. The Happy Planet Index measures life expectancy, experienced well-being, inequality of outcomes, and ecological footprint in order to determine the countries that are able to deliver the longest and happiest, but also most sustainable lives to their residents. The Index works to measure efficiency by ranking countries relative to how they offer their people long and happy lives, for each unit of environmental output.

Quality of Life Index (higher is better) is an estimation of overall quality of life by using an empirical formula which takes into account purchasing power index (higher is better), pollution index (lower is better), house price to income ratio (lower is better), cost of living index (lower is better), safety index (higher is better), health care index (higher is better), traffic commute time index (lower is better) and climate index (higher is better).

Current formula (written in Java programming language):

index.main = Math.max(0, 100 + purchasingPowerInclRentIndex / 2.5 - (housePriceToIncomeRatio * 1.0) - costOfLivingIndex / 10 + safetyIndex / 2.0 + healthIndex / 2.5 - trafficTimeIndex / 2.0 - pollutionIndex * 2.0 / 3.0 + climateIndex / 3.0);

For details how purchasing power (including rent) index, pollution index, property price to income ratios, cost of living index, safety index, climate index, health index and traffic index are calculated please look up their respective pages.

Formulas used in the past

Formula used between June 2017 and Decembar 2017

We decided to decrease weight from costOfLivingIndex in this formula:

index.main = Math.max(0, 100 + purchasingPowerInclRentIndex / 2.5 - (housePriceToIncomeRatio * 1.0) - costOfLivingIndex / 5 + safetyIndex / 2.0 + healthIndex / 2.5 - trafficTimeIndex / 2.0 - pollutionIndex * 2.0 / 3.0 + climateIndex / 3.0);

The World Happiness 2017, which ranks 155 countries by their happiness levels, was released at the United Nations at an event celebrating International Day of Happiness on March 20th. The report continues to gain global recognition as governments, organizations and civil society increasingly use happiness indicators to inform their policy-making decisions. Leading experts across fields – economics, psychology, survey analysis, national statistics, health, public policy and more – describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations. The reports review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.

The scores are based on answers to the main life evaluation question asked in the poll. This question, known as the Cantril ladder, asks respondents to think of a ladder with the best possible life for them being a 10 and the worst possible life being a 0 and to rate their own current lives on that scale. The scores are from nationally representative samples for 2017 and use the Gallup weights to make the estimates representative. The columns following the happiness score estimate the extent to which each of six factors – economic production, social support, life expectancy, freedom, absence of corruption, and generosity – contribute to making life evaluations higher in each country than they are in Dystopia, a hypothetical country that has values equal to the world’s lowest national averages for each of the six factors. They have no impact on the total score reported for each country, but they do explain why some countries rank higher than others.

Quality of life index, link: https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/indices_explained.jsp

Happiness store, link: https://www.kaggle.com/unsdsn/world-happiness/home

Tonga: Happiness Index, 0 (unhappy) - 10 (happy): The latest value from is points, unavailable from points in . In comparison, the world average is 0.00 points, based on data from countries. Historically, the average for Tonga from to is points. The minimum value, points, was reached in while the maximum of points was recorded in .