By Carlito Pablo
Are you happy?
Based on people’s evaluation of their lives, the happiest places in the world are the Nordic countries.
But how about Canada and the Philippines?
The 2026 edition of the World Happiness Report shows that out of the 147 countries ranked, Canada and the Philippines are 25th and 56th, respectively.
“Our happiness rankings are based on life evaluations, as they provide a more stable measure of the quality of people’s lives,” stated the World Happiness Report 2026 released on March 19, 2026.
Now in its 14th edition, the report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of
Oxford, in partnership with analytics and consulting firm Gallup, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an independent editorial board.
The report used the Gallup world poll and asked respondents to evaluate their current life as a whole using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life for them as a 10 and the worst possible as a zero.
The top three happiest countries are Finland with a score of 7.7; Iceland, 7.5; and Denmark, 7.5.
At 25th place, Canada had a score of 6.7.
Reporting on the 2026 list, the Canadian Press noted that Canada’s happiness ranking has been slipping, a “decade-long trend that’s seen the country plummet from the 5th happiest in the world in 2014 to 25th in 2026”.
“There’s probably no simple explanation as to why Canadians’ view of happiness has been dropping,” said Felix Cheung, a happiness researcher at the University of Toronto, in the news report.
In 2025, the Canadian Press recalled, Canada ranked 18th happiest in the world, with an average rating of 6.803.
“We should also reflect on what we’re doing right instead of simply focusing on the negative,” Cheung said.
The researcher noted that among the six different determinants listed in the report, Canada ranks quite high on social support and generosity.
To explain, the world happiness report also looked at six factors: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
“It means that we’re a kind and supportive country,” Cheung said. “And if we want to reverse this happiness decline, we can lean into existing strengths that we already have.”
The World Happiness Report 2026 was released a day before the celebration of the International Day of Happiness.
At 56th place, the Philippines had a score 6.2 out of 10.
Also on March 19, 2026, Philippine polling outfit Social Weather Stations released the results of its own survey of happiness in the country.
The SWS asked Filipinos this question: “If you were to consider your life in general these days, how happy or unhappy would you say you are on the whole?”
According to the survey, 33 percent answered very happy, 50 percent said fairly happy, 15 said not very happy, and two percent said not at all happy.
The SWS survey also asked, “On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with the life you lead?”
Filipinos responded: 28 percent very satisfied, 51 percent fairly satisfied, 14 percent not very satisfied, and seven percent not at all satisfied.
Mahar Mangahas is a founding fellow and now chair emeritus of SWS.
In a column with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mangahas noted that the Philippine score in the World Happiness Report 2026 of 6.2 is up a little bit from 6.1 in 2025.
“Its rank is 56th versus 57th last year. Here are the current WHR scores and ranks of our Asean neighbors: 36th Singapore, 6.58; 45th Vietnam, 6.43; 52nd Thailand, 6.30; 71st Malaysia, six; 87th Indonesia, 5.62; 92nd Laos, 5.52; 121st Cambodia, 4.46; and 129th Myanmar, 4.29,” Mangahas wrote.
Mangahas’ take: “We should not envy any other peoples that have higher scores, nor feel superior to those with lower ones. Happiness is not an international sport; it is no basis for national pride or shame. Other peoples’ achievements do not lessen us; their failings do not enhance us. What happens abroad can teach us what to imitate and what to avoid.”
The top 10 happiest countries: Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
ReyFort Media 
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