US hits new low, falls out of world's 20 happiest countries in annual report

WASHINGTON

The US has fallen to a new low, dropping out of the top 20 happiest nations across the world in an annual report released Wednesday.

The US dropped eight places in the annual World Happiness Report, now sitting at 23 behind the United Arab Emirates, Slovenia and the UK. All of the Nordic nations are in the top 10 with Finland, Denmark and Iceland comprising the top three worldwide. Lesotho, Lebanon and Afghanistan sit at the bottom of the 143 ranked nations.

The rankings are the first time in the 12-year history of the report in which the US has not been ranked among the world's 20 happiest nations. It ranked 15 in 2023.

Polling firm Gallup, whose data is used to compile the report, said the decline can be partially attributed to an increase in the dourness being felt by Americans under the age of 30 with those 60 or older continuing to give the world's richest nation high marks.

That is the opposite in many other parts of the world, including in Central and Eastern Europe where the older generation is generally more downbeat.

From 2006 to 2010, older and younger Americans expressed a relatively similar level of happiness.

"Their life satisfaction has declined sharply since then, from 7.451 to 6.676 in the latest calculation," said Gallup.

The poll uses a 1 - 10 scale to evaluate happiness with 10 representing the best possible life and 1 indicating the worst possible feeling.