In brief
A new study reveals that strangers are generally more generous than people anticipate, influencing overall happiness. Finland ranks as the happiest country, while the US and UK see declining positions in global happiness.
In a significant revelation, a study from the recently released World Happiness Report indicates that strangers exhibit kindness at nearly double the rate that individuals perceive. This comprehensive study, which involved testing the return rate of deliberately lost wallets in various countries, found that belief in the kindness of others has a profound impact on happiness levels globally. For the eighth consecutive year, Finland has been crowned the world’s happiest nation, scoring an average of 7.736 out of 10. Costa Rica and Mexico have notably joined the top ten for the first time, while both the United States and the United Kingdom saw their rankings decline, placing them at 23rd and 24th respectively—the lowest ever for the US. John F. Helliwell, an economist from the University of British Columbia and a chief contributor to the report, emphasized that areas where people believe in mutual care lead to higher happiness. He noted that the results from the wallet experiment demonstrate that individuals generally underestimate the kindness present in society, with a higher likelihood of wallets being returned than people expect.The 2025 World Happiness Report, spearheaded by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, ranks countries based on a three-year average survey of personal life evaluations on a scale from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). Additional findings indicated that declining happiness and social trust in the US and parts of Europe contribute to political polarization, and social interactions—like sharing meals—are strongly correlated to wellbeing.Jeffrey D. Sachs, head of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, reiterated that happiness foundationally relies on trust, kindness, and social connections. He emphasizes the importance of harnessing this understanding to foster peace and community wellness. Meanwhile, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, called for greater efforts to bridge social divides, suggesting that reconnecting as a community is vital for both individual and collective happiness.
