The World Happiness Report¹ is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the publication’s Editorial Board. The 2024 report ranks northern countries at the top:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden

Overall, Canada ranks 15th, although it is first among nations with populations of more than 30 million. However, in the happiness ranking of citizens under age thirty, Canada was a miserable 58th, trailing countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Some may wonder if those countries will be receptive when youthful Canadian refugees arrive at their borders.

In the West, the received wisdom was that the young are the happiest and that happiness thereafter declines until middle age, followed by substantial recovery. But since 2006-10, as we shall see, happiness among the young (aged 15-24) has fallen sharply in North America – to a point where the young are less happy than the old. Youth happiness has also fallen (but less sharply) in Western Europe.

WHR, Page 5

Rankings differ a lot for the young and the old. Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Director of Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre, says that while the level of a country’s GDP affects rankings, what really matters is how wealth is distributed.

In Canada, as in many developed countries, wealth inequality contributes to youthful disconnection. Statistics Canada reports that most wealth is held by relatively few households in Canada. The wealthiest households (top 20%) accounted for more than two-thirds (67.9%) of net worth at the end of 2022, while the least wealthy households (bottom 40%) accounted for 2.6%.

¹ Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., De Neve, J.-E., Aknin, L. B., & Wang, S. (Eds.). (2024). World Happiness Report 2024. University of Oxford: Wellbeing Research Centre.