According to the '2025 World Happiness Report' released by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre on March 20, Vietnam ranked 46th out of 143 countries, placing it as the second happiest country in Southeast Asia, following Singapore. This represents an 8-place jump from 54th in 2023, demonstrating a steady upward trend in recent years.   

Vietnam has been steadily climbing the rankings, from 77th in 2021 and 65th in 2022. In this report, it ranked the highest among Southeast Asian countries, excluding Singapore.

World Happiness Ranking: Finland Tops for 8th Consecutive Year... US Records Lowest Ranking Ever

Finland was named the happiest country in the world for the 8th consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking 6th and 10th, respectively. In contrast, the United States recorded its lowest ranking ever at 24th.   

At the bottom of the report were Afghanistan, followed by Sierra Leone and Lebanon.

Singapore Drops Below Taiwan as Asia's Happiest Country

According to Channel News Asia, the happiness of Singaporeans has declined in recent years. In the World Happiness Report, Singapore dropped 4 places to 34th. This is the lowest ranking since the first report was published in 2012. In 2023, it was ranked the happiest country in Asia, but this time it lost its top spot to Taiwan (27th).   

Singapore was evaluated based on six variables: social support, GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perception of corruption. Singapore ranked 24th in the world in generosity, but its overall ranking fell due to low scores in social support and freedom.

Southeast Asian Country Happiness Rankings

Vietnam: 46th   

Thailand: 49th
Philippines: 57th
Malaysia: 64th
Indonesia: 83rd

Indonesia Tops in Generosity... Bottoms in Corruption Perception

According to the Jakarta Globe, Indonesia ranked 83rd in the 2025 World Happiness Report. Indonesia ranked 1st in the world in generosity but fell to the bottom, ranking 124th in corruption perception.   

The report highlighted the gap between people's expectations of generosity and the actual generosity of society, analyzing that a pessimistic perception of others' goodwill negatively impacts overall life satisfaction.

Global Increase in Anxiety, Worry, and Stress... Deepening Social Disconnection Among Young Generations

The report pointed out that anxiety, worry, and stress are increasing globally, with social disconnection deepening, especially among young generations. In 2023, 19% of young people worldwide responded that they had no one to turn to for social support, a 39% increase compared to 2006.

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