The ranking of which are the happiest countries in the world has been released. This time too, Finland has emerged as the happiest country in the World Happiness Index 2026. This country is at the top of the list for the ninth consecutive time. Finland is followed by Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The list also mentions those top 10 countries which are most backward in terms of prosperity.
The World Happiness Index includes 147 countries, in which India is at 116th position, which was at 118th position in 2025. This means that India’s situation in terms of happiness has improved earlier. It has gone up two places. Know which are the top 10 most unhappy countries in the world.
Top 10 unhappy countries of the world
In the World Happiness Index 2026, there are 10 countries in the world which have been placed at the bottom in terms of happiness. Afghanistan is at number 147 among the bottom 10 countries in the list. It is followed by Sierra Leone (146), Malawi (145), Zimbabwe (144), Botswana (143), Yemen (142), Lebanon (141), DR Congo (140), Egypt (139) and Tanzania (138).
Afghanistan is at the top among the top 10 unhappy countries of the world. Photos: Pixabay
How is the ranking of happy countries prepared?
Now let us understand how the World Happiness Index 2026, which tells the story of happy countries, is created. Happiness index is decided on the basis of many factors. Such as GDP in a country, how many years do people live there, how much freedom is there in taking decisions related to life and what is the level of corruption.
On the basis of these things, those countries are ranked. The countries which prove to be better in these matters are kept in the top ranking and the countries which lag behind are kept in the bottom i.e. most unhappy category of countries.
Spending too much time on social media has a negative impact on well-being. Photo: Pixabay
The report alerted
The report says that between happiness and use of social media, the worst impact is on teenagers. This is worrisome. 15-year-old girls who used social media for five hours or more had a decline in satisfaction with their lives. Whereas this decline was not seen in girls who used less social media.
Researchers say that youth who use social media for less than an hour daily have the highest level of happiness. It has been made clear in the report that spending too much time on social media has a negative impact on well-being.
According to the report, the findings of 2026 have come at a time when there is tension between Iran and Israel. Its impact is visible even in the Middle East. Despite this, many countries have achieved improvement in the assessment of living standards compared to previous years. Costa Rica’s leap is an example that proves that prosperity can increase even in a complex global environment.
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