Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IRELAND HAS MOVED up two places in the world happiness ranking report, but the top spot still belongs to Finland.
Finland leads the world in happiness, according to the World Happiness Report, for the eighth year in a row, with Finns reporting an average score of 7.736 (out of 10) when asked to evaluate their lives. Nordic countries dominated the top four, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden following Finland in that order.
Ireland, with an average score of 6.889, ranked 15th, up from 17th in the last happiness rankings in 2023.
European countries dominated the top 20 in the ranking, though there were some exceptions. Despite the war with Hamas, Israel came in at eighth. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking at sixth and 10th respectively.
The United States, ranked 24th, falls to its lowest-ever position, ranked just behind the United Kingdom, 23rd, reporting its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report.
Afghanistan again was ranked as the unhappiest country in the world, with Afghan women saying their lives are especially difficult. Sierra Leone in western Africa is the second unhappiest, followed by Lebanon.
Country rankings are based on a three-year average of each population’s average assessment of their quality of life.
Experts in economics, psychology, sociology and other subjects seek to explain the variations of countries, including factors like GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption. These factors help describe the differences between countries, although the rankings are based solely on the ratings people give about their own lives.
This year, researchers focused on the theme of “caring and sharing” in their findings.
Sharing meals and household size were linked to wellbeing. Researchers found that “four to five people living together enjoy the highest levels of happiness in Mexico and Europe, but many people in Europe are living on their own.”
The study also reported that, in 2023, nearly one in five young adults across the world reported having no one they could count on for social support, this had increased 39% compared to 2006.
Additionally, researchers found that the belief in the kindness of others is much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought.
Lara B. Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University, and an editor of the World Happiness Report, said “Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others. Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness.”
The World Happiness Report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board.
The findings were published today to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.
Happy to see the country go down the pan
@Mr. Biggins: You must be from a very wealthy and privileged background if you think Ireland is worse off now than in the 20th century.
@Mr. Biggins:
Yes they were, they just hid it under their vestments.
@P. J.: now they parade around, bollox out in front of kids, should have been kept under wraps
@Mr. Biggins: you ok hun? DM me
@James Smith: Your laptop should probably be seized.
@Mr. Biggins: And kid’s school books containing rimming and fisting, very wholesome stuff indeed!
@Mr. Biggins: Only for yourself we’d be in the top 5.
@Jacintha Dumbrell:
We weren’t over run with illegal immigrants in the 20th century.
@James T.Kirk: A very begrudging 10/10.
Good few Ukrainians with free cars and new houses bought by Irish taxpayer account for a lot of that id say lol
Just shows you this comment section is a bad indication of how good this country is if you are prepared to work and take responsibility for yourself and your loved ones.
@John Paul: much easier for commoners to blame immigrants, even though the whole nation rejected them and their narrative at the election
@Housing Hunger Games: To say that 100% of the Irish people support open-borders policy, is so moronic, as to be off the scale!
@Housing Hunger Games: ‘commoners’ ??? Elaborate please.
@offside again: plenty of thugs amongst the higher ups as well.
@Brian Hunt: see the results for yourself. How many of anti immigration people got elected? A big zero. 100% of the Irish said no to riff raff scangers
@Housing Hunger Games: AFD in Germany failed to reach the 5% threshold for representation the Bundestag in 2013 . This year they are over 20% . A week is a long time in politics . A decade can work wonders .
@Housing Hunger Games:
Are you saying anyone concerned with immigration levels are “riff raff scangers” ?
You mention “unsavoury areas” in another comment, have you delusions of grandeur ?
@Housing Hunger Games: They had no choice. Only the same old shite to vote for.
@John Paul: it’s desperate
We’d be No.1 if it weren’t for all the far-right cry babies constantly putting this country down. Traitors begging Trump and Musk to interfere in Irish affairs.
@Jacintha Dumbrell:
You are right just I’d add in the far left cry babies too…
They are quite similar in that way.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: It’s the brainwashed globalist far left that is the big problem in this country.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: stop crying like a poofter, Brenny
@Jacintha Dumbrell: No we wouldn’t be no 1 when we have people like you wanting to mow down people in cars because you don’t like them. As I said before you’re no better than any of the far right
@Jacintha Dumbrell: generosity is something they definitely don’t have in spades. You never meet a sound person thats fell down that rabbit hole.
@Andrew Martin: Tin foil on sale in Aldi this week Andy?
@Jacintha Dumbrell: The constant whinging by PBP and SF doesn’t help. It’s a pain listening to them.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: The only ones putting the country down are the FFG
and their fellow Quislings in PBP, SF, Lab, SDs. They are handing the country over to foreigners and have no respect or pride in their people or culture. And we thought the Brits were bad?
That must be because of all the immigrants coming here. After all they’re responsible for everything else as well, according to the usual Journal Comment section regulars.
@Gerry Lamont: I counted 8 lies in that post- could be more- who cares? It’s the Journal
@Dereck: not for everything but for an above average percentage per capita of serious crimes including murder, I think it comes down to gratitude or lack of from the visitor wen you welcome in and then get a few killings for your efforts, that can disgruntle you are aware of that yes?.
@Gerry Lamont: your hooligans from unsavory areas couldn’t even get one person elected, the whole nation disagrees with you
@Sean Hayes:
Only 8?
@Dereck: or maybe it’s because not everyone is as miserable as you are or they don’t seek to blame every problem on their life on someone else
@Gerry Lamont: Are you sick you are not getting enough free stuff for lounging around with the many Irish layabouts…..sick you have competition?
@Sean Hayes: Easy now you almost ran out of fingers there
@Housing Hunger Games:
What ” unsavory areas“ are you referring to ?
Clearly there’s a lot more countries than us, who have more moany fkwits per head of population than we do.
The journals comments are always full of cesspit dwellers as is, imagine what the comments section in the country ranked last would be like.
@alan forbes: I bet they wouldn’t be as bad as this lot!….as I always say ‘the people who whinge the most contribute the least and expect the most free’
@alan forbes: The comments section here is gutteral to the Nth degree and is clearly emblematic of the tiny, miniscule proportion of the reality. Incels gonna incel (under numerous profiles), innit.
@alan forbes: 100% They’ve no other outlet. Anonymous, while the same cunce wouldn’t say boo to a goose meeting them on the street.
@alan forbes:
And what cesspit do you dwell in seeing as you are here.
I’d just like to personally congratulate Jari Litmanen, and too a lesser extent Sami Hyypia.
@Setanta O’Toole: yea loved Litmanen. And Lasse Viren :-)
Stockholm syndrome
@Shelly Levine:
In Finland??
@P. J.: IKEA. Bring the stock home.
Amazing that with the number of whingers and begrudgers in Ireland.
@Ulick: It’s just that our ‘government’ gives us so much to whinge about!
@Brian Hunt: i suspect you’d find something to whinge about if ya won the euromillions, Briano.
@Setanta O’Toole: No, don’t think so, I’m sure I’d find something to occupy myself, with all those millions!
As Magnus Magnusson would say when he hears who occupies top spot,I’m startled that they’re Finnish.
Capitalism works folks. It’s no surprise that the top 10 happiest countries in the world are economically free-market in nature. You cannot be happy without political freedom and you can’t have political freedom without economic freedom. Low government interference allows for innovation, competition, and better services. Private property rights give people security and long-term prosperity. Free trade and open markets create opportunities and economic stability. It’s no surprise that the unhappiest countries in the world (Afghanistan, Lebanon, Venezuela, Syria, Cuba) are like that because of government mismanagement and Socialism. Ireland should strive to move from a mixed economy into one that is more free-market in nature if they want to crack the top 10. I wish FG/FF recognised this.
@William Jennings: Nordic business is robustly regulated.
@William Jennings: all the Scandinavian countries made the top of the list lol. They are the most socialist countries in Europe, meaning strong worker rights. While capitalist America is number 24.
@mcleixlip: Actually, that’s not true. Business are subjected to less regulations than those in the rest of Europe and in North America. The Heritage Foundation, the Frasier Institute, the CATO Institute and many other economic think tanks have crunched the numbers to show this. All Nordic countries have privatised their railways, their pension system, their schools, their postal service, their telecommunications industry and their energy industry. They have no minimum wage and it’s extremely easy to hire/fire employees. How can a country be “highly regulated” if it allows private competition in all essential services? If your claim were true, the Nordic countries wouldn’t be outranking major Western economies like the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada and Italy in economic freedom.
@Housing Hunger Games: America is not a Capitalist country, the country has a mixed economy like Ireland. The government runs most healthcare, the postal service, the pension system, education, their railways, air traffic control, large farm subsides, heavy-handed regulations crush jobs, socialised mortgages (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) are offered and all infrastructure is build by government. Save me the economic illiteracy, you’re a multi-account troll that likely hasn’t been out of the house in a good while. Socialism is nowhere to be found in the Nordic countries because they are far more free-market than all the other Western economies. The government does not own the means of production. How could you ever think for one second that any of the countries in Scandinavia are Socialist?
@William Jennings: Denmark and Norway have State Railway operators. Sweden has a minimum wage. In Norway and Denmark the minimum wages are negotiated on a per sector basis by a heavily unionised workforce. The pension system in the Nordic countries are either a mix of state and private- or largely state pension (Finnland). I won’t bother contextualising more of your semi-factual opion piece.
@Dereck: Let’s debunk your nonsense point by point. Sweden and Denmark do not have public trains but the key fact is that both industries are deregulated that the government trains have to compete with. Companies MTR Express and GoAhead Sweden compete freely with SJAB and companies like Arriva Denmark and Keolis Denmark compete freely with DSB. Sweden does not have a minimum wage, this is just an outright falsehood. Nordic countries allow individual sectors to freely negotiate wages with employees flexibly. Nordic countries have privatised their pension systems. People are able to invest in Private Savings Accounts that are invested on the stock market. It’s completely voluntary unlike other Western countries, meaning you only get the returns on the stocks based on the money you put in.
@William Jennings: On the Swedish minimum wage I stand corrected. Regarding the other points I made: You admitted that there are government trains in Denmark. You also referenced Sweden which I made no reference to on that matter. Regarding the minimum wage in Norway we seem to agree that it’s set via collective bargaining. Just as in Sweden btw. Regarding the pension issue: According to Nordic Health and Welfare Statistics all Nordic Countries have a statutory minimum pension and additional (key word) private schemes. To suggest that it’s a completely voluntarily system is wrong. Your argument that the Nordic countries are the happiest due to a more free market economy lacks credibility. Especially when you measure against countries like Ciba or Afghanisan.
@Dereck: There’s public trains in all countries. The key point is that unlike most other Western nations, the Nordic companies have deregulated their system. Public trains have to compete with the private companies for business. Collective bargaining only exists in certain industries in the Nordic countries and not all employees are covered by them. Industries like retail, agriculture, small businesses and startups (primarily tech companies) are not covered by any wage agreements at all. As for your point about the pension system, you’re once again misinterpreting how it works. Yes, there is a small minimum safety net for those incapacitated or unable to invest money on the stock market. However, for everyone else who chooses a private pension, it’s fully contribution-based and voluntary.
The irish team will be moving down two rankings when Bulgaria beat them
@John Kenny: football is for the poor, the feckless and the working classes.
What is happiness?
@Garreth Byrne:
A cigar called Hamlet.
@Regular John: Showing your age there Garreth!
@Brian Hunt: sorry….Regular John.
@Brian Hunt:
And anyone who got that comment is too :)
Maybe the Finns are all sad , cold and worried about Russia – and are actually the world’s number 1 troupers . They could also be the number 1 liars . Sorry if I have offended any Finns . If I am wrong you should have no problem cheering up .
@The Rossie: when they were drawing the Russian/Finnish border they found it went right through a farmhouse. They asked the farmer which side he wanted to be on. Finland he said ; ‘there’s no way I’m putting up with anymore Russian winters’.
@offside again: that’s funny . There’s a moral there somewhere . Just not sure what it is .
As an Irish man what a load of trollop ! More like the the most moniest cynical people in the world. They must’ve gone to a pub and done this survey as that’s when Irish people are truly happy.
Hmm that picture too white
This story about finnish people being the happiest people on earth keeps popping up on my phone they are living up there in the freezing cold terrified that russia is going to take them over and they are so happy
Makes sense to me
*Stupidity index
have your say