The visualization shows the ‘happiness scores’ in 2020 for 40 countries: 20 with the highest scores and 20 with the lowest scores. The level of happiness scores is based on a ladder range ​​from 0 to 10. 

The top of the ladder (values near 10) represents the best possible life and the bottom  (values near 0) of the ladder represents the worst possible life for the surveys.

There are large differences across countries.
Nordic countries top the ranking: Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland have the highest scores (all with averages above 7). 

The lowest national scores correspond to Central African Republic, South Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda and Haiti (all with average scores below 3.5).

​

As shown by the correlation between self-reported life satisfaction, GDP and life expectancy at birth richer and healthier countries tend to be happier.

​

Source: World Happiness Report (2023) – processed by Our World in Data