Ireland landed in 15th place on the 2025 World Happiness Report, which was published on Thursday, March 20.
It was an increase of two spots for Ireland which was ranked the 17th happiest country in the world in the previous report.
In the new ranking, Ireland landed right behind 14th place Belgium and 16th place Lithuania.
Meanwhile, for the eighth consecutive year, Finland landed in the top spot. Denmark was ranked 2nd, followed by Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Elsewhere, the United Kingdom, which was ranked 23rd overall, reported its lowest average life evaluation since the 2017 report.
The United States, which was ranked 24th overall, fell to its lowest-ever position.
Country rankings are based on a three-year average of each population’s average assessment of their quality of life.
On a scale of 0 being the worst possible life and 10 being the best, Ireland returned an average life evaluation of 6.889 out of 10 in the 2025 World Happiness Report.
Interdisciplinary experts from economics, psychology, sociology, and beyond then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
These factors, the authors say, help to explain the differences across nations, while the rankings themselves are based solely on the answers people give when asked to rate their own lives.
Ireland was ranked 1st in GDP per capita, which researchers said was determined in terms of Purchasing Power Parity adjusted to constant 2017 international dollars, taken from the World Development Indicators by the World Bank.
Ireland also ranked 3rd in 'generosity,' with 69.3% of respondents saying they had donated money to a charity in the past month.
Ireland was ranked 10th for 'perceptions of corruption,' which is determined by the average of two questions - “Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not?” and “Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?”
Ireland ranked 22nd in the 'social support' category, which asked respondents, "If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?"
Ireland landed in 33rd place for 'freedom,' which asked respondents if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with their freedom to choose what they do with their lives.
Meanwhile, researchers also found that 71.5% of respondents in Ireland in 2024 had positive emotions, landing Ireland in 50th place. 23.3% had negative emotions in 2024, leaving Ireland in 40th place.
The World Happiness Report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an independent editorial board.
Lara B. Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University, and an editor of the World Happiness Report, said: “Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others.
"Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness.”
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