Türkiye ranks 94th in UN-backed global happiness index

ISTANBUL

Türkiye ranked 94th out of 147 countries in the U.N.-supported World Happiness Report, highlighting persistent challenges in life satisfaction despite a slight increase in its overall score.

Türkiye’s average life satisfaction score rose marginally from 5.2 to 5.3, but this was not enough to improve its ranking, leaving it in the lower half of the annual rankings released by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre.

For the ninth consecutive year, Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country, with a score of 7.7. Iceland and Denmark followed it, as Nordic nations continued to dominate the top of the index.

A notable development came from Costa Rica, which climbed to fourth place — the highest ranking ever recorded for a Latin American country.

Meanwhile, Israel ranked eighth, remaining the only Middle Eastern country in the top 10 despite the ongoing regional conflict.

At the lower end of the index, Afghanistan remained the least happy country, with a score of 1.4. Other countries with low rankings included Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

One of the report’s key findings was a marked decline in well-being among young people, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

According to Jon Clifton, chief executive of Gallup, which contributed to the report, most young people globally are still happier than they were two decades ago, but the recent decline in some countries is “dramatic” and requires attention.

Social media has a "complex" effect on well-being, the report noted.

Impacting factors included time spent on social media sites, the type of platform, how it was used, as well as demographic factors such as gender and socioeconomic status.