HELSINKI — The United States fell to its lowest happiness ranking ever partly due to a rise in the number of people in the US eating their meals alone, an annual UN-sponsored report said on Thursday.

Finland ranked as the world's happiest country for the eighth straight year in the World Happiness Report, with locals and experts thanking its grand lakes and strong welfare system for boosting its mood.

The United States fell to 24th place, its lowest score since the report was first published in 2012, when it recorded its highest showing at number 11.

"The number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53 percent over the past two decades," the authors said, noting that sharing meals "is strongly linked with well-being".

In 2023, roughly one in four US citizens reported eating all their meals alone the previous day, the report said.

"The increasing number of people who eat alone is one reason for declining well-being in the United States," it said.

It also noted that the United States was one of few countries to see a rise in the so-called "deaths of despair", from suicide or substance abuse, at a time when such deaths are declining in a majority of countries.

The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The report surveyed people worldwide in 2022-2024, before US President Donald Trump's shake-up of national and global affairs since returning to the White House in January.

Nordic countries all stayed among the 10 happiest, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden trailing Finland, which slightly extended its lead over runner-up Denmark.

The happiness ranking is based on a three-year average of individuals' self-assessed evaluations of life satisfaction, as well as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.

"It seems that Finnish people are relatively satisfied with their lives," Frank Martela, an assistant professor specializing in well-being and happiness research at Aalto University, told AFP.

Well-functioning society

It could largely be explained by Finns living in "quite a well-functioning society", he said.

He added that the Nordic countries also have relatively strong welfare systems, with parental leave, unemployment benefits and mostly universal healthcare — which also contribute to higher levels of wellbeing on average.

Jamie Sarja-Lambert, a professional video gamer who moved to Finland from the United Kingdom, agreed.

"Seems like everyone is a lot more in touch with nature, going outside and socializing, more of a community," he told AFP.

This year, the authors of the happiness report said new evidence indicates that engaging in acts of generosity and believing in the kindness of others are "significant predictors of happiness, even more so than earning a higher salary".

They also noted that in general "people are too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities", and that "the return rate of lost wallets is much higher than people expect".

Nordic countries also "rank among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets".

Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, once again ranked as the unhappiest country in the world.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA