Costa Rica is the happiest country in Latin America and 6th in the world, according to the 2025 Global Happiness Report published on March 20. The report analyzes more than 140 countries and rates them on a scale of 1 to 10, based on residents’ perceptions of their lives in general and the presence of positive and negative emotions.
It also takes into account other indicators such as social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption. With a score of 7.27, our country entered the top 10 worldwide, being the only representative from Latin America, along with Mexico.
The highest indicators in our case are: freedom, ranking 13th in the world, and social support, ranking 36th. In contrast, in perceptions of corruption, we rank 70th worldwide, and in generosity, 115th.
Finland on top
Overall, Costa Rica rose 6 places compared to the previous year, when it ranked 12th in the world. Finland consolidates its position as the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year, and Denmark and Iceland round out the podium.
Venezuela in the bottom
Congo, Iran, and Côte d’Ivoire, all with 5 points, are the least happy countries according to the ranking. In Latin America, Venezuela is the least happy with 5.6 points; followed by the Dominican Republic and Bolivia with 5.8.
