The map above shows the 10 happiest countries in the world based on the World Happiness Report 2026. And as you can see all but 2 are European countries. From the report:– Nordic countries lead the happiness rankings once again. Finland is still in a group of one at the top, followed by a group of three: Iceland, Denmark, and Costa Rica. Sweden and Norway complete the top six, followed by the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg, and Switzerland to round out the top ten. Costa Rica’s rise to 4th marks the highest ever ranking for a Latin American country.– In general, most Western industrial countries are now less happy than they were between 2005 and 2010. Fifteen of them have had significant drops, compared to four with significant increases.– In a ranking of happiness changes for under-25s, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (the NANZ region) rank between 122 and 133 in the list of 136 countries.Interestingly, one of the happiest countries borders one of the 10 unhappiest countries. Can you guess which?The map below should help:And in case you missed it, Israel is the 8th happiest country in the world, but border Lebanon which is the 7th unhappiest. Here is a summary of the full rankings:RankCountry name1Finland2Iceland3Denmark4Costa Rica5Sweden6Norway7Netherlands8Israel9Luxembourg10Switzerland11New Zealand12Mexico13Ireland14Belgium15Australia16Kosovo17Germany18Slovenia19Austria20Czechia21United Arab Emirates22Saudi Arabia23United States24Poland25Canada26Taiwan Province of China27Belize28Lithuania29United Kingdom30Serbia31Uruguay32Brazil33Kazakhstan34Romania35France36Singapore37El Salvador38Italy39Panama40Kuwait41Spain42Guatemala43Malta44Argentina45Viet Nam46Estonia47Bosnia and Herzegovina48Latvia49Jamaica50Chile51Nicaragua52Thailand53Uzbekistan54Slovakia55Bahrain56Philippines57Paraguay58Oman59Ecuador60Montenegro61Japan62Cyprus63Honduras64Dominican Republic65China66Kyrgyzstan67Republic of Korea68Colombia69Portugal70Croatia71Malaysia72Peru73Mauritius74Hungary75Mongolia76Trinidad and Tobago77Republic of Moldova78Bolivia79Russian Federation80Venezuela81Libya82North Macedonia83Algeria84Bulgaria85Greece86Albania87Indonesia88Tajikistan89Armenia90Hong Kong SAR of China91Georgia92Lao PDR93Mozambique94Türkiye95Iraq96Gabon97Iran98Côte d’Ivoire99Nepal100Cameroon101South Africa102Azerbaijan103Niger104Pakistan105Tunisia106Nigeria107Senegal108Namibia109State of Palestine110Kenya111Ukraine112Morocco113Guinea114Mali115Ghana116India117Somalia118Uganda119Jordan120Mauritania121Cambodia122Congo123Burkina Faso124Benin125Chad126Lesotho127Bangladesh128Gambia129Myanmar130Liberia131Togo132Madagascar133Zambia134Sri Lanka135Ethiopia136Comoros137Eswatini138Tanzania139Egypt140DR Congo141Lebanon142Yemen143Botswana144Zimbabwe145Malawi146Sierra Leone147AfghanistanIsrael’s the country that surprises me the most as being among the happiest and Ukraine being well out of the 10 unhappiest is also a surprise to me. How about you?