Western Europe, US drop in global happiness ranking

The latest World Happiness Report published on Wednesday reveals increasing levels of unhappiness among youth in some western European countries and the United States, with factors such as the influence of social media on self-esteem and lack of affordable housing said to be among the causes.

The annual report, established in 2012 to back the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, said a significant and increasing number of young people aged 15 to 24 in Australia, the United Kingdom and the US are struggling amid an increasingly challenging economic landscape.

A global team of well-being scientists, led by the University of Oxford, looked at data gathered by market research company Gallup to produce country rankings for the report.

Individuals from 143 countries and territories are asked to assess their life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing their ideal life.

Nordic nations retained their grip on the top spots in the report, with Finland in first place, followed closely by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, while Afghanistan and Lebanon held the bottom two positions.

For the first time, the US has fallen out of the top 20 happiest countries because of a notable decrease in the well-being of citizens under 30.

“Youth, especially in North America, are experiencing a midlife crisis today,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an economics professor at Oxford and one of the lead authors of the report.

Experts speculate that excessive social media usage is a significant factor contributing to the heightened rates of unhappiness.

The report shows unhappiness in young people is also evident in Canada and Japan, while France, Germany and the UK have seen a decline in the well-being rankings.

Among key concerns for young people were housing and inflation, the Intergenerational Foundation charity told The Guardian.

“Young adults are being hit from all sides by a toxic combination of government policy, a housing affordability crisis, stagnating wages and a high cost of living,” it said.