Without a doubt, it Finland remains the undisputed winner of a happy life — the country has been ranked first in the World Happiness Report for the seventh year in a row! Looking at the Nordic countries, it is easy to see that countries such as Finland, Sweden, Iceland or Norway have a clear tendency to occupy high positions in the ranking, while becoming one of the best places to live. At least that's according to Gallup data.
In the top ten were:
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Costa Rica
- Norway
- Israel
- Luxemburg
- Mexico
At the end of the ranking were countries affected by armed conflicts, extreme poverty and political instability. The lowest rated in terms of happiness are: Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
The least fortunate country in Europe Bulgaria (85th place), a little higher up Greece (81st place). Our neighbors from Slovakia also did not occupy a high position - they ranked at 50th place.
Who surprises in the ranking? For example Israel, which took 8th place, despite the complicated war situation.
Poland ranked 26th — which is a really good result. Moreover, compared to last year, we increased by as much as 9 positions (in the previous report we were ranked 35th). For comparison: USA are only two places higher — in 24th place — and record a systematic decrease in the level of declared happiness.
It is also worth noting that Poland has overtaken countries such as France and Spain.
Methodology of the study
Questions about this, How and How Happiness Can Be Measured, are as legitimate as possible. Many of us understand this condition in our own way, so it probably takes a lot of different criteria to be able to capture it fully.
The Gallup report, however, uses one specific method—and actually one key question—known as Cantrila ladder. It reads as follows:
Imagine a ladder whose rungs are numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder symbolizes the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder symbolizes the worst possible life. On which level of the ladder do you feel you are currently?
However, the data obtained from a given year, i.e. the answers to the question asked, are not in themselves the result. To create a more reliable assessment, the result of a given year is combined with the responses of the last three years. The Gallup 2025 report is combined data from 2022-2024. More than 100,000 people from 140 countries and territories participate in the survey each year.
Although Gallup's studies on happiness are widely cited and taken seriously, it is worth remembering that they are rather superficial in nature. The concept of happiness is Highly culturally diverse, and the way it is experienced and described can vary greatly from country to country. Some cultures are less emotionally open or express happiness in a more nuanced way than a simple score-based “ladder of life” model. This makes mathematical, simplified scale It does not always reflect the full human experience.
In addition, in different countries there are significant differences in the size of the test sample — in some cases, only about 1000 people were studied, while in others the sample was much more representative. It is also worth noting that the study is not longitudinal — participants are asked one time, and not tracked for extended periods of time, which limits the ability to observe changes over time.
6 measures of kindness
On his Instagram Sociologists.pl presented a comparison of data for Poland and Finland in relation to the six measures of benevolence included in the Gallup report. The figures show the national average percentage of people who declared that they had engaged in specific acts of charity in the past month.
- Your own act of kindness: Donations
Finland — 39 Poland — 125
- Your own act of kindness: Volunteering Finland — 75 Poland — 143
- Your own act of kindness: Help a stranger Finland — 96 Poland — 146
What can we conclude from this data?
According to Socijolożek.pl, it is worth paying attention to the fact that Finland is a country with high quality public services: high acceptance of high taxes is common and the state invests a lot in services or housing policy. The state offers widely accessible and very well-functioning institutions — including health care, education and social support systems. Accordingly, citizens are less likely to be forced to take relief measures on their own.
In Poland, however, in the face of lower quality and availability of public servicesWe often reach for grassroots support, self-organisation and emergency activities.
As noted by Sociologists.pl:
Prosperity inequality is low in Finland — data suggest correspondingly lower demand for private charity. When we look at Poland, these actions look quite different — the frequency of reported acts of kindness is much higher.
The Gallup report can be compared to another well-known study such as Harvard Study of Adult Development A study that has been tracking the lives of three generations since 1938, involving more than 2,000 people, to answer the question: what really makes life happy and fulfilling.
This is one of the longest-running studies on adult development in the world. It started in Boston with two completely different groups: Harvard students and boys from working-class families. Today it also includes their children, that is, representatives of the baby boomer generation. Thanks to this study, we know, among other things, that The strongest factor in happiness and health is not money or social status, but the quality of human relationships..
According to Robert Waldinger, Director of Research at Harvard: The happiest, healthiest, aging people who lived the longest were those who had the warmest bonds with other people.
summary
Although the World Happiness Report 2025 shows Poland in an increasingly better light, it is worth looking at the results from a distance — Gallup's research reveals much, but does not exhaust, the complexity of human happiness. In parallel with quantitative data, the question comes up more and more often: can happiness really be learned - and is not its source primarily in relationships?
Sources:
- https://www.gallup.com/analytics/349487/world-happiness-report.aspx?thank-you-report-form=1
- https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/author-talks-the-worlds-longest-study-of-adult-development-finds-the-key-to-happy-living
- https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHgv2NyMqHu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA ==
- https://www.instagram.com/p/DHjC7Yisa7z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA ==
- https://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/news
