The latest World Happiness Survey has thrown up a report affirming that heavy social media usage has eroded personal well-being among young people across the world.
The 2026 World Happiness Report says people who are more inclined to use social media seem to be less satisfied with their lives.
It also found that social media is harming adolescents at a scale large enough to cause changes at the population level. However, those who used social media for less than an hour a day were more likely to report higher well-being than those who did not use social media at all.
The report said most US college students wish social media platforms did not exist, adding that “they use them because others are using them, but they would prefer it if no one did.”
Social media was defined in the report as platforms that include user profiles, user-generated content, networking, interactivity, and (in most cases) algorithmically curated content. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, X, and YouTube all share these features.
Combining all seven lines of evidence reveals consistent and converging evidence that the major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X, as they are currently designed and commonly used, are dangerous consumer products that harm adolescents at a massive scale.
Meanwhile, the report ranks countries based on how people rate their lives and well-being.
The 2026 report found that life satisfaction among those under 25, especially in English-speaking and Western European countries, has fallen sharply over the past decade.
The study, based on surveys of around 100,000 people across 140 countries, found life satisfaction among under-25s in countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, has fallen sharply over the past decade.
World Happiness Report 2026 Rankings:
Top 10:
- Finland
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Costa Rica
- Sweden
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
Notable entries:
- 17. Germany
- 23. United States of America
- 65. China
- 97. Iran
- 104. Pakistan
- 106. Nigeria
- 116. India
The least happy countries in the world, according to the report:
- 147. Afghanistan
- 146. Sierra Leone
- 145. Malawi
- 144. Zimbabwe
- 143. Botswana
The annual happiness report is published by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Rankings reflect three-year averages and consider factors such as GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
