The 2026 World Happiness Report found that life satisfaction among those under 25 in some English-speaking countries has fallen sharply over the past decade. Finland was once again the happiest country.
Finland once again showed the world the path to happiness even as heavy social media usage eroded personal well-being among young people across the planet, the World Happiness Report 2026 said on Thursday.
The report, produced by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the United Nations, found life satisfaction among under-25s in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand has fallen sharply over the past decade.
The study is based on surveys of around 100,000 people across 140 countries.
Social media is all about comparison
Someone is happy with their doo-dad, until someone else has a different (not necessarily better) doo-dad
Someone enjoyed their holiday destination, until they saw someone else’s edited and curated holiday destination, and suddenly, what they were perfectly happy with now seems inadequate
I don’t gauge my happiness by what other people have, or what they’re doing
I’ve had nothing, and I have been rich. Apart from the security that wealth brings, the “stuff” that people think is important has never mattered to me
I have a motorbike that I got second hand that’s almost 20 years old. I bought the first car of my life (I was born in the 1970s) about six months ago, and I got the cheapest car I could find
I’m happy
Not because of what I own, but because of what I value
I pity anyone who is influenced by social media, and if they’re of my age, I see them as weak.
It’s difficult for kids who have known no different, and they have my sympathy, because I don’t know how they’re supposed to negotiate these waters, particularly when their pathetic parents can’t do any better