The report was published to mark the International Day of Happiness. Yes, it’s today, so smile, it’s probably compulsory.
The report is produced in partnership between the Gallup Institute, the Oxford Centre for Well-being Research and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and full results are available here.
Similar to last year, all Nordic countries are in the top ten happiest countries. Denmark is in second place, Iceland is in third, Sweden is in fourth, and Norway is in seventh place. In fifth place is the Netherlands, which has returned to the top five of the happiest countries.
Despite their geographical proximity, the Baltic states are not quite adjacent when it comes to happiness, though Lithuania has risen from 19th place last year to a decidedly jocular 16th place this year.
Sadly, since last year, Latvia has slipped from 46th to 51st place and Estonia slumped from 34th to 39th place.
Latvia World Happiness Report 2025
Photo: WHR
The highest ranking Latvia has ever achieved is 41st place, back in 2023, suggesting the mood has somewhat soured since then. This year it did very well on social support, ranking 8th worldwide, and quite well on GDP per capita (38th). But Latvia did poorly on generosity (66th) and corruption perception (88th).
51st place puts Latvia between Slovakia (50th) and Oman (52nd).
The report assessed 147 countries, and Afghanistan was again named the unhappiest.
The degree of happiness was determined taking into account both subjective criteria such as people’s self-esteem and their satisfaction with life, and more objective indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, available social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom and the level of corruption.
Ther global happiness ranking is based on a question from the Gallup World Poll:
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?
To learn more about the methodology, see the report’s Frequently Asked Questions section.