Namibia ranks 108 in World Happiness Report

Namibia dropped from 103 in 2025 to 108 in the 2026 World Happiness ranking, out of 147 countries globally.

The World Happiness Report is the world’s largest publication on global well-being and also makes recommendations for countries to improve on their rankings.

Finland ranked first in the world for the ninth year.

Finland’s ambassador to Namibia, Katja Kalamäki, says the country is delighted that it has once again been named the world’s happiest country.

“Happiness does not appear out of nowhere, it grows from a society built to help people thrive, one where trust, equality and reliable safety nets create a sense of security and where our close relationship with nature brings peace and stability,” Kalamäki said in a statement over the weekend.

The report includes combined open-access data from over 140 countries.

It is released every year on World Happiness Day on 20 March.

Meanwhile, the report, produced by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the United Nations, found life satisfaction among under-25s in countries including the United States (US), Canada, Australia and New Zealand has fallen sharply over the past decade.

The study is based on surveys of around 100 000 people across 140 countries.

Social media has been named as a contributing factor to unhappiness in some parts of the world.

Some young people prefer if no one used social media.

The report says that heavy social media use is linked to declining well-being among young people, particularly teenage girls in English-speaking and Western European countries.

The findings come as governments increasingly consider restrictions on social media use by minors.

Researchers say extensive social media use, especially more than seven hours per day, is associated with lower well-being, with algorithm-driven, image-focused platforms and influencer content cited as key factors.

The report says most US college students wish social media platforms did not exist.

“They use them because others are using them, but they would prefer it if no one did,” the report says.

However, those who used social media for less than an hour a day were more likely to report higher well-being than those who did not use social media at all.

Afghanistan ranked the lowest.

– Additional reporting by Deutsche Welle

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