Finns are still the world’s happiest people. But lonely Americans slide down the rankings

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 predicted 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.

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For 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 ranked among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets, the study found.

Overall, researchers said global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets showed people were much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities – actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect.

In a concerning development, the study said 19 per cent of young adults across the world reported in 2023 that they had no one they could count on for social support, up 39 per cent compared with 2006.

All countries are ranked according to their self-assessed life evaluations averaged over 2022 to 2024. Experts in economics, psychology, sociology then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

AP

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