Big surprise from the new ranking of the happiest countries in the world It’s not like Finland is ranked number one – as it has been for several years – but Costa Rica, Israel and Mexico are among the top five on the list of 147 countries.
The World Happiness Ranking 2026, coordinated by the University of Oxford, is the most respected annual study on life satisfaction. It is based on a Gallup survey of people around the world who believe they are living the best possible life, on a scale of 0 to 10.
Like last year, Finland, Iceland and Denmark took the top three spots. However, for the first time, Costa Rica took fourth place – the highest for a Latin American country – followed by Israel (8) and Mexico (12).
Most countries in the United States (23), Brazil (32), Spain (41), Argentina (44), Chile (50), China (65), Colombia (68), Peru (72), Russia (79), and Venezuela (80). The least happy country in the world is Afghanistan (147).
Finland goes to the top for the next nine years. The happiness of Scandinavians is largely explained by their high standard of living, health and free education and intense community life.
I saw this with my own eyes when I visited Finland and Denmark for my book How to climb a wellabout the secrets of the happiest countries in the world: The Nordic countries also have a very rich social life.
It was hard for me to meet people at the end of the late afternoon because everyone was off to their movie club, cooking class or collecting club after work. In Denmark, for example, there are laws that oblige public schools and workshops to lend their salons to social clubs free of charge after working hours.
But what surprised me the most was the new ranking the high degree of happiness reported by the experiences in Costa Rica, Israel and Mexico.
Paradoxically, the president Trump tells everyone that Mexico is a disastrous country captured by organized crime, Mexicans are much more satisfied with their lives than the United States. Accordingly, the United States has been climbing the rankings for several years.
Cuba and Nicaragua are not on the list. I believe the investigators involved in the study told me that the country specifications do not allow Gallup to freely discuss their findings.
Mariano Rojasa professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Mexico and one of the authors of the happiness study, I think that Costa Rica is the fourth happiest country thanks to a combination of a state of well-being that brings good health and free education, and “relational kindness” to people.
“Los costarricenses demonstrate estar muy a gusto con su vida”, says Rojas. “It’s something we see in other Latin American countries, but Costa Rica is able to associate it with good enough health.”
The case of Israel is special. It burdens the war and the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack, which was the largest massacre of the Jewish community since the Holocaust of 1940-1945, Israel is among the happiest countries in the world I signaled for strong familiar chords and a shared sense of meaning to survive as a community.
Mexico, once upon a time, is among the happiest countries because it is a very warm society, he explained. “The extended families, the famous parties that are held, the neighbor, it all creates the idea of sharing life with others. It all creates an environment of happiness that is not economic but relational,” I told Rojas.
What is my conclusion? The most popular countries are usually happier, because of course, if people don’t want to be happy, they can’t be happy.
However, economic prosperity is not enough. If so, the United States and Saudi Arabia would be in the first places, and they are not.
To increase happiness, income must also be generated from community living, as is happening—for different reasons—in countries as diverse as Finland, Costa Rica, Israel, and Mexico. Money helps you feel happy, but it is not enough.
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