The 2026 edition of the World Happiness Report (WHR) explores the relationship between happiness and social media. According to its findings, heavy social media use contributes to the decline in well-being among young people in English-speaking countries and Western Europe, especially girls. The report also contains a ranking of the world’s happiest countries, where Nordic countries continue to dominate.

The report draws on Gallup World Poll data, which suggest that life evaluations among young people under 25 in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have dropped dramatically over the past decade (by almost one point on a 0-10 scale). Meanwhile, the average for young people in the rest of the world has increased.

The report cites an international survey of 15-year-olds in nearly 50 countries, which reveals linkages between heavy social media use and a significant drop in well-being among those surveyed, with the caveat that any effect depends on the type of social media platform, how it is used, and demographic factors such as gender and socioeconomic status. Young people who use social media for less than an hour a day report the highest levels of well-being, according to the report. Yet, adolescents are using social media for an average of 2.5 hours daily.

Contributors include the generational differences expert Jean Twenge and psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, where he argues that the spike in youth mental illness since 2010 is due to a “great rewiring of childhood,” caused by the shift from play-based to phone-based childhood due to the introduction of smartphones and social media.

For the ninth year in a row, Finland is the “happiest” country, followed by Iceland and Denmark. Costa Rica is in fourth position, continuing a multi-year climb from 23rd in 2023. Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg, and Switzerland are also among the ten happiest countries. The world’s “unhappiest” nation is once again Afghanistan.

For the second year in a row, none of the English-speaking countries – New Zealand (11th), Ireland (13th), Australia (15th), the US (23rd), Canada (25th), and the UK (29th) – appear in the top ten.

According to a press release, these rankings “are based on a three-year average of each population’s average assessment of their quality of life.” In the report, economists, psychologists, sociologists, and other experts seek to explain the variations across countries and over time. They rely on Gloss Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption, among other indicators. While these factors help explain the variations across nations, the rankings are based exclusively on people’s self-reported ratings.

Now in its 14th edition, the World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and the WHR’s Editorial Board. The World Happiness Report 2026 was published on 19 March 2026, ahead of the UN’s International Day of Happiness, marked on 20 March. [Publication: World Happiness Report 2026] [Online Report] [Executive Summary] [Country Rankings] [SDG Knowledge Hub Stories on 2025, 2024, and 2023 Editions]