The United Nations (UN’s) International Day of Happiness is observed annually on 20 March across the globe to highlight the importance of well-being and happiness in people’s lives. The day advocates for inclusive, equitable, and balanced economic growth, while also promoting sustainable development and poverty eradication.
- The theme of International Day of Happiness 2025 is “Caring and Sharing” highlighting that true, lasting happiness comes from caring for one another, fostering meaningful connections, and being part of something greater than ourselves.
Background:
i.In 2012, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution A/RES/66/281, officially designating March 20th as the International Day of Happiness each year.
- This resolution was supported by all 193 UN member states.
ii.The resolution was proposed by Bhutan, that prioritized national happiness over national income since the early 1970s.
- Bhutan adopted the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) instead of Gross National Product (GNP) to measure the well-being of its people.
iii.The first-ever International Day of Happiness was observed on 20 March 2013.
World Happiness Report (WHR) 2025:
According to the World Happiness Report (WHR) 2025, Finland remains the happiest country in the world for the 8th consecutive time followed by its Nordic neighbor countries Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.
- India has improved its ranking to 118th (up from 126th in 2024) in the World Happiness Report 2025. Also India ranked high on scores of social support and scored the lowest on the freedom factor.
- Among the least happy countries, Afghanistan ranks (147) at the very bottom, while Sierra Leone and Lebanon also register extremely low life evaluations.
About WHR:
i.WHR 2025 is the 13th edition of annual study, evaluating happiness levels across 147 countries and was released every year in commemoration of the International Day of Happiness on March 20th.
ii.The report is a collaborative effort involving the United States of America (USA) based institutions such as Gallup Inc, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN).
- Starting from 2024, the report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, the United Kingdom (UK) in partnership with Gallup Inc and UN-SDSN under the editorial oversight of the WHR Editorial Board.
iii.The 2025 report ranks countries based on people’s self-assessed life satisfaction over the past three years (2022–2024), utilizing data from the Gallup World Poll.
iv.Since its inaugural publication in 2012, the WHR has offered valuable insights into the factors shaping global wellbeing.
Highlights of WHR 2025:
i.Western countries dominated the top 20, especially European nations, Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking at 6th and 10th respectively.
- The United States of America(USA) dropped to it’s lowest ever position at 24, due to growing unhappiness and loneliness. The United Kingdom(UK) also ranked at 23.
ii.Taiwan is the happiest place in Asia. It took the 27th spot, moving up from 31st last year. Taiwan was followed by Singapore and Vietnam.
iii.Even though India ranked 118th overall, in terms of the ‘Country rankings for six measures of benevolence’, it was listed much higher at 57 for how people donated; at 10 for how people volunteered; 74 for helping a stranger, and in case of wallet returned by a neighbour (115), stranger (86) and police (93).
iv.In India’s neighbourhood, Nepal with 92nd rank (93 in 2024) and Pakistan, with 109th rank (108 in 2024) remained much ahead of India, Sri Lanka, with 133rd rank (128 in 2024) and Bangladesh 134th position (129 in 2024) lagged behind.
Methodology:
i.WHR 2025 assesses national happiness based on 6 primary dimensions, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
ii.For the first time, the report also provides separate happiness rankings by age group, revealing important variations relative to the overall national rankings
Top 5 Happiest and Unhappiest Countries in WHR 2025:
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
| Top 5 Happiest Countries | |
| 1 | Finland |
| 2 | Denmark |
| 3 | Iceland |
| 4 | Sweden |
| 5 | The Netherlands |
| Top 5 Happiest Countries in Asia | |
| 1 | Taiwan |
| 2 | Singapore |
| 3 | Vietnam |
| 4 | Thailand |
| 5 | Japan |
| Top 5 Unhappiest Countries | |
| 147 | Afghanistan |
| 146 | Sierra Leone |
| 145 | Lebanon |
| 144 | Malawi |
| 143 | Zimbabwe |
About Gallup Inc:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Jon Clifton
Headquarters– Washington, the United States of America (USA)
Established– 1935
