{
  "$schema": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Dataset",
  "publisher": "High Definition Learning Group",
  "title": "World Happiness Report 2026 — Ranking Breakdown & Computed Stats",
  "updated": "2026-09-03",
  "note": "First-party breakdown compiled by High Definition Learning Group. The underlying country rankings are as published in the World Happiness Report 2026 (Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, Gallup, UN SDSN, published March 20, 2026) and cross-checked across secondary reporting. The Nordic-count, ratio, and English-speaking-country figures below are computed by High Definition Learning Group from that rank list — they are not stated as such in any single source reviewed.",
  "methodology": "Top-20 rank order is corroborated across three independent secondary sources reporting on the same primary WHR 2026 release; where sources disagreed on exact life-evaluation scores (notably the #2/#3 Iceland-vs-Denmark margin, reported as a 0.001-point gap without both absolute values confirmed), we report only the three scores independently confirmed by name (Finland, Costa Rica, and the lowest-ranked country) rather than presenting an unconfirmed figure as fact.",
  "top_20": [
    {"rank": 1, "country": "Finland", "score": 7.764, "note": "9th consecutive year at #1"},
    {"rank": 2, "country": "Iceland"},
    {"rank": 3, "country": "Denmark", "note": "Sources report Iceland led Denmark by a 0.001-point margin; both exact scores not independently confirmed"},
    {"rank": 4, "country": "Costa Rica", "score": 7.439, "note": "Highest rank ever reached by a Latin American country in the report's 14-year history"},
    {"rank": 5, "country": "Sweden"},
    {"rank": 6, "country": "Norway"},
    {"rank": 7, "country": "Netherlands"},
    {"rank": 8, "country": "Israel"},
    {"rank": 9, "country": "Luxembourg"},
    {"rank": 10, "country": "Switzerland", "note": "Returned to the top 10 after a one-year absence"},
    {"rank": 11, "country": "New Zealand"},
    {"rank": 12, "country": "Mexico"},
    {"rank": 13, "country": "Ireland"},
    {"rank": 14, "country": "Belgium"},
    {"rank": 15, "country": "Australia"},
    {"rank": 16, "country": "Kosovo"},
    {"rank": 17, "country": "Germany"},
    {"rank": 18, "country": "Slovenia"},
    {"rank": 19, "country": "Austria"},
    {"rank": 20, "country": "Czechia"}
  ],
  "lowest_ranked": {"country": "Afghanistan", "score": 1.446, "note": "Last of 147 countries ranked"},
  "computed_stats": [
    {
      "stat": "nordic_countries_in_top_10",
      "value": 5,
      "detail": "Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway hold 5 of the top 10 positions (ranks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6).",
      "computed_by": "High Definition Learning Group, from the top_20 list above"
    },
    {
      "stat": "english_speaking_countries_in_top_10",
      "value": 0,
      "detail": "No traditionally English-speaking country (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland) appears in the top 10 for the second consecutive year. New Zealand is closest at #11.",
      "source": "RankingTour.com, WHR 2026 coverage"
    },
    {
      "stat": "happiest_to_least_happy_score_ratio",
      "value": 5.37,
      "detail": "Finland's score (7.764) is approximately 5.37x Afghanistan's score (1.446) — the widest life-evaluation spread the ratio methodology captures for this report cycle.",
      "computed_by": "High Definition Learning Group, from the two confirmed endpoint scores above"
    }
  ],
  "related_finding": "The WHR 2026 report's own headline research theme — a decline in life evaluation among people under 25 in English-speaking countries even as youth wellbeing rose elsewhere, linked in part to social media use — is covered in HDL Group's own analysis at /science-of-happiness-and-wellbeing-2026.html#world-happiness. This dataset covers the country-ranking side of the same report; that page covers the age/social-media finding.",
  "sources": [
    { "name": "Mappr — Mapped: World Happiness Report 2026", "url": "https://www.mappr.co/world-happiness-report-ranking/", "used_for": "Finland score, Afghanistan score/rank, total country count, publication date" },
    { "name": "Time Out — The world's happiest countries have been named for 2026", "url": "https://www.timeout.com/news/the-worlds-happiest-countries-have-been-named-for-2026-031926", "used_for": "top_20 rank order" },
    { "name": "RankingTour — Top 10 Happiest Countries in the World 2026", "url": "https://www.rankingtour.com/happiest-countries-in-the-world-2026/", "used_for": "English-speaking-country rankings (US #23, Canada #25), Switzerland's return to top 10" },
    { "name": "OnlineGK — World Happiness Index 2026", "url": "https://www.onlinegk.com/articles/world-happiness-index-2026", "used_for": "Costa Rica score and historic significance" },
    { "name": "Gallup — World Happiness Report 2026", "url": "https://www.gallup.com/analytics/349487/world-happiness-report.aspx", "used_for": "top-6 order cross-check, methodology description" }
  ],
  "license": "https://highdefinitionlearning.pages.dev/ai-usage-terms.txt",
  "disclaimer": "Compiled for informational and educational purposes from public secondary reporting on the World Happiness Report 2026. For the authoritative primary data, see the official report published by Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network."
}