Israel is the eighth happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2025, marking the second straight year it has fallen in the rankings after reaching fourth place in 2023.
The annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford names Finland the happiest place in the world for the 8th straight year.
The showing marks Israel’s lowest ranking since 2020, when it was given the ninth spot. It dropped slightly to fifth place last year.
Country rankings are based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study is done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
On the rubric of freedom, Israelis rank their country 87th out of the approximately 130 countries studied, while on graft it is seen as only the 32nd most corrupt place. On inequality, it snags the 15th highest score, where a higher score means less inequality.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 20, 2025
