US drops off list of happiest countries for first time

(NEXSTAR) – The grass may indeed be greener on the other side – or at least in 22 other countries around the world. The United States fell to 23rd place in the annual World Happiness Report released Wednesday.

This is the first time in the report’s 12-year history that the United States has been dropped from the top 20 list.

America’s decline in happiness scores is due in part to a significant drop in happiness among young people. If we look only at happiness among people under 30, the United States ranks 62nd. For people aged 60 and over, the United States ranked 10th.

There are similarly large differences in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, where young people are far less happy than older people. The report says the problem has worsened since 2010.

“When comparing generations, people born before 1965 are on average happier than people born after 1980,” says one report. Summary of report findings. “Millennials’ evaluation of their lives declines as they get older, but baby boomers’ satisfaction with their lives increases as they get older.”

While the United States has fallen off the list, Central and Eastern European countries have made significant advances over the past year. Both Serbia and Bulgaria moved up more than 60 places in the world rankings.

Want to know where the happiest people in the world are? Finland tops the list again, According to the report. The country was followed by its Nordic neighbors, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, which ranked from her second to fourth place.

Of the 143 countries evaluated, Afghanistan came in last.

You can read the full report here. This year’s report takes into account the average of three years of data from 2021 to 2023 to determine the rankings. The World Happiness Report is compiled in partnership with Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Center and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Experts in psychology, economics and sociology are working together to assess the happiness level of each country based on a variety of factors, from a country’s GDP to life expectancy to public perceptions of corruption.