Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The US falls to its lowest-ever position

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland is the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.

Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.

Aino Virolainen, a digital commerce director, has lived abroad but always wants to return home to Finland.

“This is where I always want to come back to and where I want to, you know, grow my kids and grow old myself,” Virolainen said Thursday. "And I think it’s because, you know, the peace and the quietness and the trustworthiness. You know, how we speak directly and the nature, of course. It’s clean and the air is fresh and what’s there not to love?”

Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

“Happiness isn’t just about wealth or growth — it’s about trust, connection and knowing people have your back," said Jon Clifton, the CEO of Gallup. "If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what truly matters: each other.”

Researchers say that beyond health and wealth, some factors that influence happiness sound deceptively simple: sharing meals with others, having somebody to count on for social support, and household size. In Mexico and Europe, for example, a household size of four to five people predicts the highest levels of happiness, the study said.

Believing in the kindness of others is also much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought, according to the latest findings.

As an example, the report suggests that people who believe that others are willing to return their lost wallet is a strong predictor of the overall happiness of a population.

Nordic nations rank among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets, the study found.

Alexandra Peth, a managing director, said Finnish culture prioritizes trust and connection.

“People trust each other in Finland and I think on many levels in the society, we try to support each other," Peth said. "So I think the system makes it kind of that you can trust it somehow.”

Overall, researchers said that global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets shows that people are much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities compared to reality — actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect.

While European countries dominate the top 20 in the ranking, there were some exceptions. Despite the war with Hamas, Israel came in at eighth. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking at sixth and 10th respectively.

When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness — the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.

The United Kingdom, at position 23, is reporting its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report.

Afghanistan is again ranked as the unhappiest country in the world, with Afghan women saying their lives are especially difficult.

Sierra Leone in western Africa is the second unhappiest, followed by Lebanon, ranking third from the bottom.

In a concerning development, the study said that 19% of young adults across the world reported in 2023 that they have no one they could count on for social support. That is a 39% increase compared to 2006.

All countries are ranked according to their self-assessed life evaluations averaged over 2022 to 2024.

Experts in economics, psychology, sociology and beyond then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as gross domestic product per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

Jouni Purhonen, a Helsinki resident, called Finns “really calm.”

“So we have the time to think about things like live our life really peacefully and I guess easily, if you will,” Purhonen said.

Kirsten Grieshaber reported from Berlin.

People walk along a shopping street in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk by the Three Smiths statue in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk on the embankment of the South Harbour in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk along a shopping street in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk over the iron footbridge decorated with love locks on the Market Square in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A tram is reflected in shop window in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Woman pass by variety fridge magnets displayed at store on the Market Square in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk past a street musician in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People stand in line at an accessories store in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A man trying on a knitted hat with Finnish pattern on the Market Square in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk along a street in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A woman enjoys a sunny and frosty day on the embankment of the South Harbour in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Finnish final-year high school students paraded through downtown as part of the traditional annual Penkkarit in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People enjoy a sunny and frosty day after sweating in the sauna of the public bath in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk past a monument to poet and writer Johan Ludvig Runeberg in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

People walk next to the Havis Amanda statue on the Market Square in the center of Helsinki, Finland, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Thursday struck several homes and killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials.

Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties. It was the first such attack since Israel resumed heavy bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war. On Wednesday, the military was retaking control of the key corridor that cuts off northern Gaza from the south.

The Israeli military meanwhile restored a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, that it had maintained for most of the war. It warned residents against using the main highway to enter or leave the north and said only passage to the south would be allowed on the coastal road.

Here’s the latest:

Three rockets launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday set off sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Hamas claimed the attack, which appeared to be the first out of Gaza since Israel ended a ceasefire with a surprise bombardment of the territory on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said it intercepted one of the rockets, and two others fell in open areas. There were no reports of injuries.

Earlier on Thursday, a missile launched toward Israel by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi was intercepted before it reached Israeli airspace.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the strikes on Yemen a “crime” that “should be prevented.”

In a message marking the Iranian New Year, he said Muslim nations must unite to resist the “Zionist Regime," referring to Israel. He called the U.S. an accomplice in the resumption of Israel’s strikes on Gaza and said the strikes by Israel have been carried out by “the U.S. permission, or support and green light.”

In a separate message, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged for domestic integrity, improving relation with neighbouring nations and other nations in the world.

The death toll from new Israeli strikes on Gaza has climbed to 58, according to hospitals in the territory.

Multiple homes were targeted in the middle of the night late Wednesday and early Thursday. The latest total of those killed was according to three hospitals in different parts of the territory.

The strikes hit houses in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya, they said.

The European Hospital in the southern city of Rafah said 26 people, mostly women and children, were killed in strikes on two family homes overnight. One of the strikes killed a father and his seven children, it said.

The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies of seven people killed overnight in an attack on a home. In northern Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital said it had received the bodies of seven people killed in a strike on a home in Beit Lahiya, a town near the border.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels early Thursday before it reached Israeli airspace, as air raid sirens and exploding interceptors were heard in Jerusalem. No injuries were reported.

It was the second such attack since the United States began a new campaign of airstrikes against the rebels earlier this week.

In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the nation in a televised speech marking the Iranian New Year, called Nowruz, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

People walk surrounded by buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech marking the Iranian New Year, or Nowruz, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Ella Osama Abu Dagga, 25 days old, lies in a van after being pulled from the rubble following an Israeli army airstrike that killed her parents and brother in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT.- Rescue workers and volunteers attempt to pull the body of a man from the rubble following an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

Neighbours watch as volunteers and rescue workers search for survivors among the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

Volunteers and rescue workers use a bulldozer as to remove the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

An Israeli tank maneuvers on the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

An Israeli tank takes position on the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)