March 20th is a big day in my world. It is the International Day of Happiness, which my workplace uses to message the importance of enhancing well-being in the autism community. It is also the day that the World Happiness Report (Heliwell et al., 2024) is released each year. The World Happiness Report is a publication released annually by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative for the United Nations. It ranks countries based on various factors related to happiness and well-being. It has been published annually since 2012.

Typically, the media highlights which country is the happiest—indeed, that is exciting data. This year, the Scandinavian countries are leading the world in happiness again, which has been true since the report's inception; Finland topped the list as the happiest country for the 7th consecutive year. This year, the report provided additional information about people's happiness at different life stages or age ranges, the first time the report had been organized in this manner. The report provides rankings by age group. Interestingly, a particular age group in one country can vary widely from their overall rankings. For example, Lithuania topped the list for children and young people under 30 but placed 52nd in the overall rankings.

These age group data........

© Psychology Today