Vietnam rises to record high in happiness index

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network today released the World Happiness Report 2025, which shows that the 10 happiest countries in the world are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg and Mexico.

Vietnam ranked 46th this year, up significantly from 54th in 2024 and 65th in 2023, and its highest position ever. Vietnam is also one of 19 countries that improved in this year's report.

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the second happiest country, after Singapore. Coming in third in Southeast Asia is Thailand, which ranked 49th in the report.

The report is based on data from the Gallup World Poll, which surveyed people in more than 140 countries, asking them to rate their overall quality of life, combined with information such as GDP per capita, life expectancy, personal freedom, generosity, social support and corruption.

The four Nordic countries at the top of the report, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden, maintained their rankings as in 2024. "People in Nordic countries like Finland continue to enjoy high-quality and available health, education, and social benefits. Welfare inequality is also low," said Ilana Ron-Levey, director of Gallup.

John Helliwell, a researcher who conducted the report, said the Nordic countries were among the top in terms of the proportion of lost wallets expected to be returned and actually returned.

Mr. Helliwell added that the human factor also plays an important role in making Finland the happiest country, as its people have a unified and united mindset after the war. "Today, Finns also focus on themselves instead of material things, contributing to the increase in the happiness index," he said.

Meanwhile, the United States ranked 24th this year, the lowest since the report began, partly due to the rise in people eating alone. The researchers say eating together is a sign of social cohesion, and countries where people eat alone less often tend to have higher levels of social support and positive interactions, while rates of loneliness are lower.

“The number of people eating alone in the US has increased by 53% over the past two decades,” the report said, noting that eating in groups “is strongly linked to happiness.”

Researchers also said that declining happiness and social trust caused the US and some European countries to not rank highly. "The US dropped in the rankings because young people under 30 are disappointed with their lives and living standards, feel less supported by friends and relatives, and have fewer choices," said Director Ron-Levey.

The US isn’t the only English-speaking country to fall in the rankings. The UK is ranked 23rd this year, its lowest since 2017. Canada has seen its happiness index decline over the past decade, coming in at 18th.

At the bottom of the list are Afghanistan, ranked 147th, Sierra Leone, ranked 146th, and Lebanon, ranked 145th.