Vietnam ranks second in Southeast Asia in happiness index

Vietnam has climbed to the 46th position in the 2025 World Happiness Report, up eight places from the 2023 rankings.

The latest report, released on March 20 by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the Oxford University, ranks 143 countries and territories based on citizens' self-reported well-being.

Vietnam’s steady progress in recent years has seen its position improve significantly, from 77th in 2021 to 65th in 2022 and 54th last year. The country now ranks second in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore.

For the 8th consecutive year, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Meanwhile, Costa Rica and Mexico have entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking 6th and 10th, respectively. The US, however, has fallen to the 24th place, its lowest position on record. At the lower end of the rankings, Afghanistan remains at the bottom, followed by Sierra Leone and Lebanon.

The World Happiness Report is compiled in collaboration with the analytics firm Gallup and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The rankings are based on factors such as social support, life expectancy, economic stability, and levels of kindness within communities.