Happiest countries in the world 2026

Finland is the happiest country in the world in the World Happiness Report 2026, for the 9th year running, with 7.764 out of 10, ahead of Iceland (7.540), Denmark (7.539), Costa Rica and Sweden. The score is neither a composite index nor an expert's verdict: it averages, over 2023 to 2025, how people polled by Gallup answer one question, where they would place their own life on a ladder from 0 to 10. 147 countries are ranked. Margins of error matter: Iceland and Denmark are only 0.001 of a point apart, far less than the interval published for each. Reported happiness is not money either: several countries at the top take a large share of a high salary. The tool below shows, for the ranked countries this site calculates, what your salary would leave after tax and contributions.

The happy country where you keep the most

🇨🇭 Switzerland

$79,076 a year · 79%

Net pay and share kept in the happiest countries
Rank	Net a year	Kept
1. Finland	$64,215	64%
3. Denmark	$64,531	65%
5. Sweden	$68,554	69%
6. Norway	$70,507	71%
7. Netherlands	$64,987	65%
9. Luxembourg	$65,965	66%
10. Switzerland	$79,076	79%
11. New Zealand	$71,153	71%

Single employee, 2026 tax table, exchange rate of 2 November 2026. Only countries whose tax this site calculates appear here.

How we calculate

World Happiness Report 2026 ranking

World Happiness Report ranking, top 30 countries
Rank, country	Score out of 10	95% interval
1. Finland	7.764	7.69 – 7.84
2. Iceland	7.540	7.45 – 7.63
3. Denmark	7.539	7.45 – 7.63
4. Costa Rica	7.439	7.36 – 7.52
5. Sweden	7.255	7.17 – 7.34
6. Norway	7.242	7.16 – 7.33
7. Netherlands	7.223	7.15 – 7.29
8. Israel	7.187	7.12 – 7.25
9. Luxembourg	7.063	6.97 – 7.15
10. Switzerland	7.018	6.94 – 7.10
11. New Zealand	6.995	6.92 – 7.07
12. Mexico	6.972	6.89 – 7.06
13. Ireland	6.928	6.84 – 7.02
14. Belgium	6.926	6.86 – 6.99
15. Australia	6.916	6.83 – 7.00
16. Kosovo	6.910	6.81 – 7.01
17. Germany	6.882	6.79 – 6.98
18. Slovenia	6.868	6.78 – 6.95
19. Austria	6.845	6.76 – 6.93
20. Czechia	6.821	6.74 – 6.90
21. United Arab Emirates	6.821	6.73 – 6.91
22. Saudi Arabia	6.817	6.73 – 6.91
23. United States	6.816	6.72 – 6.91
24. Poland	6.768	6.71 – 6.83
25. Canada	6.741	6.66 – 6.83
26. Taiwan	6.714	6.63 – 6.80
27. Belize	6.711	6.43 – 6.99
28. Lithuania	6.704	6.61 – 6.80
29. United Kingdom	6.694	6.61 – 6.78
30. Serbia	6.691	6.61 – 6.78

Show the full ranking

World Happiness Report ranking, the remaining countries
31. Uruguay	6.635	6.55 – 6.72
32. Brazil	6.634	6.54 – 6.73
33. Kazakhstan	6.633	6.56 – 6.71
34. Romania	6.629	6.54 – 6.72
35. France	6.586	6.51 – 6.66
36. Singapore	6.585	6.50 – 6.67
37. El Salvador	6.578	6.46 – 6.69
38. Italy	6.574	6.47 – 6.68
39. Panama	6.547	6.43 – 6.66
40. Kuwait	6.543	6.43 – 6.66
41. Spain	6.540	6.46 – 6.62
42. Guatemala	6.533	6.39 – 6.68
43. Malta	6.436	6.36 – 6.52
44. Argentina	6.430	6.34 – 6.52
45. Vietnam	6.428	6.35 – 6.50
46. Estonia	6.410	6.33 – 6.49
47. Bosnia & Herzegovina	6.381	6.28 – 6.48
48. Latvia	6.365	6.28 – 6.45
49. Jamaica	6.305	5.99 – 6.62
50. Chile	6.302	6.21 – 6.39
51. Nicaragua	6.301	6.13 – 6.48
52. Thailand	6.296	6.19 – 6.41
53. Uzbekistan	6.283	6.18 – 6.39
54. Slovakia	6.255	6.19 – 6.32
55. Bahrain	6.254	6.14 – 6.36
56. Philippines	6.206	6.10 – 6.32
57. Paraguay	6.198	6.09 – 6.31
58. Oman	6.197	5.97 – 6.42
59. Ecuador	6.144	6.03 – 6.26
60. Montenegro	6.139	6.06 – 6.22
61. Japan	6.130	6.05 – 6.21
62. Cyprus	6.126	6.01 – 6.24
63. Honduras	6.096	5.95 – 6.24
64. Dominican Republic	6.093	5.96 – 6.23
65. China	6.074	6.00 – 6.15
66. Kyrgyzstan	6.049	5.98 – 6.12
67. South Korea	6.040	5.95 – 6.13
68. Colombia	6.040	5.93 – 6.15
69. Portugal	6.029	5.93 – 6.13
70. Croatia	6.009	5.93 – 6.09
71. Malaysia	6.005	5.90 – 6.11
72. Peru	5.974	5.87 – 6.08
73. Mauritius	5.939	5.81 – 6.06
74. Hungary	5.937	5.83 – 6.04
75. Mongolia	5.936	5.85 – 6.02
76. Trinidad & Tobago	5.905	5.65 – 6.16
77. Moldova	5.851	5.74 – 5.96
78. Bolivia	5.835	5.73 – 5.94
79. Russia	5.834	5.74 – 5.93
80. Venezuela	5.756	5.65 – 5.87
81. Libya	5.731	5.65 – 5.81
82. North Macedonia	5.719	5.63 – 5.81
83. Algeria	5.714	5.59 – 5.84
84. Bulgaria	5.703	5.61 – 5.80
85. Greece	5.697	5.58 – 5.81
86. Albania	5.662	5.54 – 5.78
87. Indonesia	5.617	5.52 – 5.72
88. Tajikistan	5.591	5.51 – 5.67
89. Armenia	5.584	5.49 – 5.68
90. Hong Kong	5.569	5.49 – 5.65
91. Georgia	5.517	5.42 – 5.61
92. Laos	5.515	5.39 – 5.64
93. Mozambique	5.336	5.15 – 5.53
94. Türkiye	5.300	5.22 – 5.38
95. Iraq	5.212	5.10 – 5.32
96. Gabon	5.167	5.03 – 5.30
97. Iran	5.151	5.03 – 5.27
98. Côte d’Ivoire	5.148	5.02 – 5.28
99. Nepal	5.147	5.03 – 5.26
100. Cameroon	5.083	4.96 – 5.21
101. South Africa	5.009	4.89 – 5.13
102. Azerbaijan	4.993	4.91 – 5.07
103. Niger	4.940	4.79 – 5.09
104. Pakistan	4.868	4.74 – 5.00
105. Tunisia	4.798	4.71 – 4.88
106. Nigeria	4.788	4.67 – 4.91
107. Senegal	4.787	4.67 – 4.90
108. Namibia	4.781	4.68 – 4.88
109. Palestine	4.694	4.59 – 4.80
110. Kenya	4.674	4.54 – 4.80
111. Ukraine	4.658	4.55 – 4.77
112. Morocco	4.646	4.53 – 4.76
113. Guinea	4.609	4.47 – 4.75
114. Mali	4.588	4.47 – 4.71
115. Ghana	4.554	4.46 – 4.65
116. India	4.536	4.47 – 4.60
117. Somalia	4.508	4.39 – 4.62
118. Uganda	4.491	4.37 – 4.61
119. Jordan	4.478	4.35 – 4.60
120. Mauritania	4.473	4.36 – 4.59
121. Cambodia	4.462	4.35 – 4.57
122. Congo	4.456	4.29 – 4.62
123. Burkina Faso	4.455	4.35 – 4.56
124. Benin	4.393	4.26 – 4.53
125. Chad	4.385	4.25 – 4.52
126. Lesotho	4.375	4.17 – 4.58
127. Bangladesh	4.319	4.20 – 4.44
128. Gambia	4.306	4.21 – 4.40
129. Myanmar (Burma)	4.287	4.14 – 4.43
130. Liberia	4.280	4.12 – 4.44
131. Togo	4.277	4.17 – 4.38
132. Madagascar	4.174	4.06 – 4.29
133. Zambia	4.106	3.95 – 4.26
134. Sri Lanka	4.013	3.90 – 4.13
135. Ethiopia	3.985	3.88 – 4.09
136. Comoros	3.925	3.75 – 4.10
137. Eswatini	3.909	3.75 – 4.07
138. Tanzania	3.902	3.76 – 4.04
139. Egypt	3.862	3.77 – 3.96
140. DR Congo	3.761	3.61 – 3.91
141. Lebanon	3.723	3.64 – 3.81
142. Yemen	3.532	3.31 – 3.76
143. Botswana	3.464	3.34 – 3.59
144. Zimbabwe	3.346	3.24 – 3.45
145. Malawi	3.284	3.15 – 3.42
146. Sierra Leone	3.251	3.15 – 3.36
147. Afghanistan	1.446	1.35 – 1.54

Three-year average of the Cantril ladder, Gallup World Poll, as published in the World Happiness Report 2026.

What the score says, and what it does not

The report also publishes six associated factors: income, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. They do not build the score; they help read it. The five Nordic countries sit at ranks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, but the top ten also includes Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg, Switzerland. Beyond that group, the United States ranks 23, the United Kingdom 29 and France 35.

Do happy countries tax more?

Often, on a high salary. On 100,000 dollars gross, a single person would keep 64% in Finland, 65% in Denmark, 69% in Sweden. These percentages come from this site's tax engine and not from the report, which does not measure tax: any link between the two is a reading, not a cause.

Other rankings

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Questions

What is the happiest country in the world?

Finland, with 7.764 out of 10 in the World Happiness Report 2026, for the 9th year in a row. The score sums up answers from 2023 to 2025 to one life evaluation question. Last place, at rank 147, goes to Afghanistan with 1.446. Gaps between neighbouring countries often fall within the margin of error.

How does the World Happiness Report calculate its ranking?

It takes the three-year average of the Cantril ladder in the Gallup World Poll: each person places their life from 0, the worst possible, to 10, the best possible. It is not an index that adds up income or health. The six factors shown in the report explain part of the gaps, without entering the calculation of the rank.

How happy is the United Kingdom compared with the US?

The United Kingdom ranks 29 of 147 with 6.694 out of 10, and the United States ranks 23 with 6.816. Each country page on this site adds what remains of a salary and public figures on safety, schools and health, which the report does not cover.

Will moving to a higher-ranked country make me happier?

The report does not say so. It describes how a country's residents answer, not how someone who settles there will feel, and it does not follow the same people before and after a move. A rank is a starting point, to weigh against work, language, family and what you would actually keep.

Sources

Published by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of international tax comparisons built from official tax tables

Updated on November 3, 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

Figures 2026, checked on November 3, 2026