World Happiness Report Flags Social Media's Negative Impact

Young people have a “much lower” level of wellbeing than 15 years ago due to the effects of social media use, according to the 2026 edition of the World Happiness Report.

Where is the happiest country in the world? For the ninth consecutive year, Finland found itself at the top of the annual ranking of 147 countries compiled by the World Happiness Report, from the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre.

Nordic countries maintained their typical dominance of the upper echelons of the list, which was published on Friday, with Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Sweden and Norway completing the top six. The fourth-place ranking for Costa Rica is the best ever achieved by a Latin American country.

Meanwhile France placed 35th – its lowest ever ranking and a fall of two places in the past 12 months.

The report, which was compiled in partnership with global analytics firm Gallup and the UN, is published each year on the first day of spring and has become an indispensable resource for addressing the growing global interest in incorporating happiness – or well-being – into public policy.

As well as giving country rankings, it also provides insights into global wellbeing trends which, this year, came with a warning: Social media is taking a significant toll on the happiness of young people in the West. 

The authors concluded, “if social media platforms did not exist, many users would be better off”.

Cyberbullying, sextortion, depression

The harms caused by social media to young users are “diverse and vast in scope”, the report found, ranging from “overwhelming evidence of severe and widespread” direct harm such as cyberbullying and sextortion, to “compelling evidence” of indirect harm such as depression.

This years’ report comes as more and more governments around the world are introducing laws to reduce social media use in a bid to protect younger users.

Researchers for the report compile data on happiness by asking around 100,000 participants from each country to rank where they stand on a scale of zero to 10, with zero being the worst possible version of their life and 10 being the best.

Responses are collected throughout the year, taking into account factors such as religious observances, weather patterns, pandemics and war.

The survey results give an overall score: for example this year, French participants came out with an average 6.586 compared with 7.764 for their Finnish counterparts.

The scores are then filtered through six measurable indicators with “demonstrable links to subjective well-being, and more specifically to life satisfaction”. These include: having someone to count on, GDP per capita, a healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption.

Some trends come as no surprise. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has made life particularly difficult for women there, who have an average wellbeing score of just 1.26.

Afghanistan is the bottom country on this year’s list, and is joined at the lower end largely by nations experiencing major political and social difficulties, including Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Yemen, Lebanon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Youth happiness crisis

The data also shows a sharp decline in life satisfaction among people under 25 over the past decade, particularly in English-speaking countries and Western Europe.

This “youth happiness crisis” was first mentioned in the 2024 World Happiness Report, but the 2026 edition highlights the specific link between social media use and decreased wellbeing among young people in the West.

- Author: Pauline ROUQUETTE, France24

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