Costa Rica and Mexico have entered the top 10 happiest countries in the world according to the 2025 World Happiness Report.
Believe it or not there is a United Nations International Day of Happiness, which lands in March every year and a report called the World Happiness Report. This annual review is the result of a committee who examine all 147 countries in the search for the most blessed people in our social fabric. But how is well-being measured exactly? And where are our Latino brothers and sisters ranked? Keep reading to find out!
This report is possible thanks to the partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an editorial board. The Gallup World Poll collects a whopping amount of data to study individuals’ self-assessed life evaluations over three years (2022-2024 for this edition). This means that stats and figures aren’t all that matter, but also our own collective take on what happiness is about. Each survey asks people to score their life from a holistic perspective and rank it accordingly.
But how do the participants rate their overall life satisfaction? According to the CNN Travel section, the report focuses on six key variables that form the basis of the rankings:
Yeah, you guessed it: for the eighth consecutive year, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country. The Nordics are defending their title by making all the right decisions, basically—high-quality education, comprehensive healthcare, and robust social support systems. The result? A GDP per capita at #15, freedom at #4, and perceptions of corruption at #2. Denmark and Iceland have also entered the happiness podium in second and third place, respectively; then Sweden came, and the Netherlands after that, standing tall in the top five. In a world that seems to be getting colder and more individualistic by the minute, the freezing Nordics look like the cozy, warm Caribbean.
Leaving Finland and neighbors aside, there are two countries that may not be ranking for the best, but have scored first and second place in the generosity and donation categories: Indonesia and Myanmar. Indonesia also came first in the volunteering section.
Who’s on the other end of the spectrum, then? Ranked in 147th place, we have Afghanistan, just like last time. Other countries with low happiness scores include Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. The reason why these nations have ranked so low is mainly because they face significant challenges—political instability, colonialism, economic hardship, and limited access to essential services, all of which contribute to lower life evaluations among their populations.
This World Happiness report has brought cause for celebration in Latin America: for the first time, two countries have left their mark within the top ten nations: Costa Rica (6th place) and Mexico (10th place). Their rankings have significantly improved since the 2024 report: Costa Rica was in 12th place and Mexico was 25th. But what makes these two countries stand out from the crowd?
Costa Rica's high ranking can be linked to its strong social networks and emphasis on environmental sustainability, and investment in education and healthcare contribute to a high quality of life for its citizens. Fun fact: Costa Rica became the first country in the world to abolish its army in 1949! No wonder they are in 9th place in the “positive emotions” category and in 13th place regarding their sense of freedom.
On the other hand, Mexico’s position in the top ten reflects a tight-knit community, with cultural practices that foster closer families. Despite facing economic and security challenges (especially now with ongoing economic pressures and trade tensions with the United States) Mexicans are resilient and optimistic; we can see this in their 6th place in the “positive emotions” ranking and their simultaneous 14th place in the negative ones.
There were also other Latin American countries that performed well in the rankings; in fact, another eight nations are among the 50 happiest ones. At 25th place, we have Belize, which came in first in the freedom category; Uruguay is #28 in the general ranking and stands tall in the “social support” category in 17th place. Brazil is at No. 36, and then we have Panama (#41), Argentina (#42), Guatemala (#44), Chile (#45), and Nicaragua (#47).
Something that this report has shown us is that a country’s GDP isn’t necessarily a factor that contributes to its overall happiness. For example, the US dropped out of its 2024 20th ranking and went to No. 24 this year, giving it its lowest ranking to date. Maybe America’s GDP per capita is in 4th place, but is #13 in the inequality category and #115 in the freedom one. In the CNN Travel section, Ilana Ron-Levey (managing director at Gallup) explained that Americans under 30 feel worse about their lives because they don’t count on their friends and family’s support as much as they used to, their living standards aren’t up to their expectations and feel less free to make life choices.
On the same note, despite excelling in the general ranking, the Finnish people stand in seventh place regarding negative emotions, which is reasonable if we consider they have gone through a suicide crisis in the past, as The Guardian explains.
On the other hand, if we take a look at the top ten countries on the “positive emotions”
category, six are from Latin America: Guatemala (#2), Panama (#3), Paraguay (#5), Mexico (#6), Costa Rica (#9), and Ecuador (#10). But wait, what about No. 1? It’s Senegal, an overlooked country in the 113th place of the “GDP per capita” category. If we examine the top 10 countries in the “helped a stranger” category, we’ll find that eight are actually from Africa, and the rest are from Central America. This shows us that money isn’t a determining factor and that humble communities tend to be the most supportive.
Even though this report goes on and on about facts and statistics, numbers aren’t everything. In fact, we believe there is more to happiness than figures in an Excel spreadsheet, it’s about culture, tradition, and community. Some countries may not have much, but they make do with what they have and carry on with dignity, even in the most desolate contexts. So even in the darkest times, we can still find light in a young mother’s eyes as she looks at her sleeping children, or a group of friends who stare at the horizon waiting for the sun to melt into the ocean sunset. Well-being is subjective, and while researchers attempt to quantify well-being, happiness remains deeply personal and culturally shaped.
Just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, happiness is in the hearts of those who live their life to the fullest and Latinos we will have full lives!
Resumen en español: Los países más felices del mundo. ¿Las personas de Latinoamérica son más felices?
El World Happiness Report 2025 analiza la felicidad en 147 países, basada en factores como el apoyo social, la salud, la libertad, la generosidad, la percepción de corrupción y el PIB per cápita. Finlandia lidera el ranking, seguida por Dinamarca e Islandia. Sin embargo, el informe también destaca que el dinero no lo es todo: países como Costa Rica (puesto 6) y México (10) se ubican entre los más felices gracias a sus fuertes redes sociales, optimismo y sentido de comunidad. Otros países latinoamericanos como Uruguay, Argentina y Guatemala también figuran entre los 50 primeros.
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