Finland is a cheery place – we get it. The country was just named the happiest in the world for the eighth consecutive year by the World Happiness Report, and you can read all about its wellness and happiness methods that we’ve tried out ourselves here.
But Finland is far from the only country in Europe with a smile on its face. The annual report assesses 147 countries across the planet for criteria including GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom, social support, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
Across Europe, Nordic countries dominate the ranking, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden retaining their top-five places from 2024. Eastern and Central Europe also had a fair few countries enter the top 20, but the only Mediterranean nations to scrape their way in are Slovenia, Kosovo and France.
Below is a roundup of the 20 happiest countries on the continent – are you surprised by any?
These are the 20 happiest countries in Europe
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- Belgium
- Ireland
- Lithuania
- Austria
- Slovenia
- Czechia
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Poland
- Kosovo
- Serbia
- France
You can read the World Happiness Report for 2025 in full here – and here’s the top 50 happiest countries on this year’s list.
Did you see that this underrated European country was just named the world’s top wellness destination?
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