Canada's happiness is at an all-time low — but the US is even more miserable

It's no secret the vibes in North America aren't so great these days — but now, a new global ranking has the numbers to back it up.

The World Happiness Report 2025 dropped on Thursday, just on time for the International Day of Happiness, and it's got some eyebrow-raising updates about where countries stand when it comes to overall joy and well-being.

If you're wondering which are the happiest countries in the world this year, and how Canada stacks up — especially compared to our neighbours to the south — the results might surprise you.

Every year, the report ranks countries based on how people rate their own lives, using a 0 to 10 scale. It also factors in things like GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption — but the rankings are based on people's own life evaluations, not just cold, hard stats.

The latest edition looks back on 2024 and reveals some big shifts, especially for Western countries — and Canada's latest drop in the rankings brings the country to an all-time low.

According to the report, Canada has slipped to 18th place in the global happiness rankings — the lowest it's ever been. Back in 2011, we were sitting pretty in the top 5, but over the years, our position has slowly slid down, with the biggest falls happening in 2020 and again this year.

Now, for the first time, we're behind countries like Lithuania, Belgium and Mexico. But hey, if it's any consolation, our neighbours to the south are having an even tougher time.

The U.S. is now ranked 24th, also its lowest ever. So yeah, we may be less happy than before — but at least we're still happier than the country that keeps trying to annex us.

The happiest countries in the world continue to be the Nordic powerhouses, with Finland holding onto the top spot — a position it's comfortably held every year since 2017. Here are the top 25 this year:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Netherlands
6. Costa Rica
7. Norway
8. Israel
9. Luxembourg
10. Mexico
11. Australia
12. New Zealand
13. Switzerland
14. Belgium
15. Ireland
16. Lithuania
17. Austria
18. Canada
19. Slovenia
20. Czechia
21. United Arab Emirates
22. Germany
23. United Kingdom
24. United States
25. Belize

The report also breaks down factors that could be driving Canada's ranking, and it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Canada scores pretty well when it comes to GDP per capita and perceptions of corruption — meaning people feel relatively good about the economy and trust in public institutions. But where the country falls short is in how we actually feel.

Canada ranks fairly low globally for both prevalence of positive emotions — like laughter, enjoyment and interest — and absence of negative ones — like worry, sadness and anger. The country ranked 56th and 92nd, respectively, in those categories, and that middle ground might be part of what's dragging down our overall score.

So, while Canada's happiness has taken a hit, it could still be worse. We're not the happiest, but we're not the most miserable either — and that's something to smile about, right?

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