Vietnam is among the countries with a continuously increasing happiness index ranking in the past 3 years.

Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year in the World Happiness Report 2025. Along with Finland, other Nordic countries, including Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, also maintained their high rankings in the top four of the annual rankings.

European countries dominate the top 20, but there are some exceptions. Israel, despite its conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, ranked eighth. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking sixth and tenth, 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 on the happiness index. The report said the number of people dining alone in the US has increased by 53% over the past two decades. Afghanistan remained at the bottom of the rankings, with many women in the southwest Asian country reporting that their lives were particularly difficult. Sierra Leone in West Africa and Lebanon were second and third from the bottom, respectively. The rankings were based on people's responses about their own lives. The research was conducted in collaboration with the analytics 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, the researchers said.

Belief in the kindness of others is also strongly linked to happiness, according to the study. For example, the report found that people who believe that others will return a lost wallet tend to be happier. Nordic countries are often among the places with the highest rates of 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.