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Heavy societal media usage is harming young people’s well-being successful galore countries, according to a U.N.-backed World Happiness report released connected Thursday (March 18, 2026), which besides ranked Finland arsenic the world’s happiest state for the ninth consecutive year.
This year’s World Happiness Report highlighted the interaction of societal media arsenic galore countries enforce oregon mull legislative restrictions connected societal media usage for young people.
This twelvemonth arsenic well, Nordic countries pb the happiness rankings.
Top 10 countries successful the World Happiness Report 2026
- Finland
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Costa Rica
- Sweden
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
Costa Rica’s emergence to 4th marks the highest ever ranking for a Latin American country.
Among the 147 countries featured successful the report, India ranks 116th, a flimsy betterment from its 118th presumption successful 2025.
The study highlighted however beingness evaluations among nether 25-year-olds successful the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand person dropped importantly implicit the past decade, and suggested that agelong hours spent scrolling done societal media is simply a cardinal origin successful that trend. By contrast, young radical successful different parts of the satellite felt amended astir their lives.
The study attributes Finland’s accordant apical ranking on with different Northern European countries to a operation of wealth, its adjacent distribution, having a payment authorities that protects radical from the risks of recessions, and a steadfast beingness expectancy.
As successful erstwhile years, nations successful oregon adjacent zones of large struggle stay astatine the ft of the rankings. Afghanistan is ranked arsenic the unhappiest state again, followed by Sierra Leone and Malawi successful Africa.
Ten unhappiest countries see (rankings from 138 to 147):
- Tanzania
- Egypt
- DR Congo
- Lebanon
- Yemen
- Botswana
- Zimbabwe
- Malawi
- Sierra Leone
- Afghanistan
Six factors for valuation of happiness ranking
- GDP per capita
- Life expectancy
- Social enactment
- Freedom to marque beingness choices
- Generosity
- Perceptions of corruption
Country rankings were based connected answers fixed by astir 100,000 radical successful 140 countries and territories who were asked to complaint their ain lives. The survey was done successful concern with the analytics steadfast Gallup and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Report highlights societal media’s antagonistic impact
The study said the antagonistic correlation betwixt well-being and extended societal media usage is peculiarly concerning among teenage girls. For example, it said that 15-year-old girls who usage societal media for 5 hours oregon much reported a driblet successful beingness satisfaction, compared to others who usage it less.
Young radical who usage societal media for little than 1 hr per time study the highest levels of well-being, researchers said, higher than those who bash not usage societal media astatine all.
The 2026 rankings people the 2nd twelvemonth successful a enactment that nary of the English-speaking countries look successful the apical 10. The United States is astatine 23rd place, Canada is astatine 25th and Britain astatine 29th.
