The happiest countries in the world 2024 | Good luck

The World Happiness Report released this week ranked a country’s happiness overall and also by age, for the first time since the inaugural list more than a decade ago.

“The relationship between age and happiness is more nuanced than previously thought,” says Gallup editor-in-chief Ilana Ron Levey Fortune in an email interview.

The researchers pointed to a decline in happiness for Americans under 30. It may help explain why the United States dropped out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time, ranking 23rd compared to 15th the previous year. “The decline of the United States is at least partly attributable to the fact that Americans under 30 feel worse about their lives,” reads the report, published in collaboration with Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Center and UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

For Americans over 60, the United States ranks in the top 10, but for those under 30, it drops to 62nd.

Levey hypothesizes that differences in well-being may depend on the strength of the community and people’s social ties. How people prioritize and interact with friends, family, colleagues and others may vary by age. “We know that social support and loneliness impact happiness, and that different generations have different levels of social connections,” she says. “Factors including school closures during COVID-19, technology use, and quality of friendships may affect younger and older adults differently.”

Levey hopes the report sheds light on the importance of combating loneliness, especially as long-standing research finds that the strength of people’s social connections throughout their lives determines their level of happiness in later life.

Additionally, ensuring deeper connections is something people can work on.

“Happiness when you get older is based on many of the same factors as happiness when you are young,” says Levey. “Fostering strong social connections, helping others and demonstrating benevolence, and feeling like you have someone to rely on in a time of need is crucial to happy aging, just as it is crucial at all ages.”

Across the world, young people (aged 15 to 24) were generally happier than older people, with the exception of North America.

“There is great variation across countries in the relative happiness of younger, older, and intermediate populations,” John F. Helliwell, founding editor of the World Happiness Report, says in a press release. “So global happiness rankings are quite different for young and old people, to a degree that has changed a lot over the last dozen years.”

The rankings compile self-reported happiness responses on a scale of 0 to 10 from the Gallup World Poll sample between 2021 and 2023. In addition to the happiness rankings, the report also takes into account a country’s GDP, life expectancy and people’s sense of freedom and corruption. shed light on the needs of individual nations.

The happiest countries in the world for adults and children

The happiest countries for under 30s:

1. Lithuania
2. Israel
3. Serbia
4. Iceland
5. Denmark
6. Luxembourg
7. Finland
8. Romania
9. Holland
10. Czech Republic

The happiest countries for over 60s:

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Iceland
6. New Zeland
7. Holland
8. Canada
9. Australia
10. United States