Cyprus has fallen sharply in the latest World Happiness Report 2025, dropping to 67th place, a significant decline from 46th place in 2023 and 50th in 2024. The annual report, published by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre in collaboration with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranks countries based on people's self-reported life satisfaction.

The latest rankings show that Cypriots have become increasingly unhappy over the past two years, marking one of the biggest declines among European nations. By contrast, Greece also experienced a notable drop, falling from 64th place in 2024 to 81st place in 2025.

The world's happiest country remains Finland, topping the list for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. The top ten also includes the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg, and Mexico, with Costa Rica and Mexico entering the top ten for the first time.

At the bottom of the rankings, Afghanistan remains the world's most unhappy country (147th place), followed by Sierra Leone and Lebanon.

The study is based on a three-year average of survey responses where people rate their lives on a scale from 0 to 10—with 0 being the worst possible life and 10 being the best. While traditional factors such as health and wealth play a role, researchers highlighted social trust, community connections, and support networks as key drivers of happiness.

A striking finding of the study is that people who believe in the kindness of others tend to be happier. This was demonstrated through an experiment measuring how often lost wallets were returned. Scandinavian countries ranked highest in both expected and actual rates of wallet returns, reinforcing the idea that strong social trust correlates with higher happiness levels.