According to the World Happiness Report 2025 published by the Happiness Research Center of Oxford University (UK) on March 20, Finland continues to be honored as the happiest country in the world for the 8th consecutive year.
Vietnam is among the countries with a continuously increasing happiness index ranking over the past 3 years.
Alongside Finland, other Nordic countries, including Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, also maintained high rankings in the top four of the annual ranking.
European countries dominate the top 20, but there are some exceptions.
Despite facing a conflict with the Hamas Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, Israel ranked 8th. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking 6th and 10th, respectively.
In this year's report, Vietnam ranked 46th out of 143 countries and territories, up 8 places compared to 2023.
This year's ranking shows that Vietnam's happiness index has made strong progress in the past 3 years, from 77th in 2021 to 65th in 2022 and 54th in 2023. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranks 2nd after Singapore.
Meanwhile, the US dropped to 24th place – its lowest ever ranking in the happiness rankings. The report said the number of people dining alone in the US has increased by 53% over the past two decades.
Afghanistan continues to rank at the bottom of the rankings, with many women in the southwest Asian country saying their lives are particularly difficult.
Next are Sierra Leone in West Africa and Lebanon, ranked second and third from the bottom respectively.
The ranking is based on people's responses about their own lives. The research was conducted in collaboration with the analysis company Gallup and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
“Happiness is not just measured by wealth, but also by feeling trusted, connected and knowing that people have your back,” said Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup.
In addition to health and wealth, some seemingly simple factors influence happiness, such as sharing meals with others, having someone to count on for social support and household size, researchers say.
Belief in the kindness of others is also strongly linked to happiness, according to research. For example, people who believe that others will return a lost wallet tend to be happier, the report said.
Nordic countries are often among the places with high rates of people returning lost wallets.
However, the study also revealed a worrying finding: 19% of young people worldwide in 2023 said they could not count on anyone for social support, up from 39% in 2006.
Economists , psychologists, and sociologists have sought to explain differences between countries and changes over time based on factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP), healthy life expectancy, having someone to rely on, a sense of freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/19/170524/viet-nam-dung-thu-2-dong-nam-a-ve-chi-so-hanh-phuc
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