World’s happiest country named in new ranking

Happiness is a difficult metric to measure but that hasn’t stopped several studies having a go in the last few years. While the World Happiness Report regularly sees Finland take the top spot, a new study has produced a very different set of results.

The Mental State of the World report looked at global mental wellbeing to find the world’s most and least satisfied citizens. The team spoke to people in 71 countries around the world to look at an “individual’s ability to handle the normal stresses and adversities of life”.

Britons might be surprised to learn that the UK was right at the bottom of the table, beating only Uzbekistan on mental wellbeing.

Residents in both Yemen and Ukraine, both countries currently at war, scored higher than British people for mental wellbeing.

Many of the world’s wealthiest countries landed at the bottom of the table with the report’s authors concluding that “greater wealth and economic development do not necessarily lead to greater mental wellbeing”.

Globally, mental wellbeing was at a post-pandemic low, suggesting many people are still suffering from the after-effects of the pandemic. People under the age of 35 suffered the biggest fall in mental wellbeing during the pandemic.

But which country had the best score for mental wellbeing?

The Dominican Republic topped the table. Famed for beaches and holiday resorts, the Caribbean country beat Sri Lanka and Tanzania to the top spot.