Happiest nations on earth: a slideshow

The United States of America is a great nation, but is it a happy one?

March 20, 2024, is International Day of Happiness. Polling company Gallup released its “World Happiness Report 2024,” a 158-page measure of life evaluations, positive emotions, negative emotions, and other factors that contribute to overall happiness of people.

The data may be reason to smile or frown in itself. But it also is important for policy makers to study the analytics and advice for evidence-based planning, said Gallup CEO Jon Clifton.

“Effective policymaking relies on solid data, yet there remains a significant lack of it in various parts of the world,” Clifton said in Gallup’s news release. “Today’s World Happiness Report attempts to bridge some of these gaps by offering insights into people’s perceptions of life on Earth.

“Our role in research on World Happiness is a natural fit with our longstanding mission: providing leaders with the right information about what people say makes life worthwhile,” he said.

The annual rankings are based on a three-year average of life evaluations that are self-reported to The Gallup World Poll.

Here are a dozen countries where residents reported greatest levels of happiness.

Spoiler alert: If you’re looking for the United States on this list, you won’t find it. The U.S.A. ranked 23rd internationally, the first time the nation has fallen out of the top 20 since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012, according to Gallup.

At the very bottom among 143 nations: Afghanistan.