Skip to content

World Happiness Report to be released at London summit

UN Turkish UN Police (UNPOL) officer Hakan Arslan shares a laugh with a girl at Dili Mosque Orphanage, Timor-Leste.UN
Turkish UN Police officer Hakan Arslan shares a laugh with a girl at Dili Mosque Orphanage, Timor-Leste

The latest World Happiness Report is to be released in London as part of the United Nations' Day of Happiness.

It is the first time the annual symposium, which highlights and promotes the benefits of happy populations, has been held in the UK.

All 193 UN member states have adopted a resolution calling for happiness to be given greater priority.

The report will also list the world's happiest countries - usually led by northern European countries.

UN Three children in AkkoUN
Three children in Akko, the Northern District of Israel, pictured in 1980

Finland has been in the top spot for seven years, with Denmark, Norway and Iceland regularly making the top ten.

In 2023, the UK was in 19th place.

The summit will be held at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, with experts including the US's top doctor, Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy, speaking at the event, alongside Oxford research academics, workshops and authors.

Alamy Claude Heller (left), Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN, and Vitaly I. Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, share a laugh prior to a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East and the question of Palestine.Alamy
Claude Heller and Vitaly I Churkin share a laugh prior to a Security Council meeting in 2010

Topics on the agenda include the impact of smell on wellbeing, how to forgive, and a Junk Kouture fashion show. A session of "purposeful play" with Lego is also on the timetable.

A series of smaller, free events will take place across London.

UN A seventy-year-old woman laughs with family members inside a grocery store in Tachilek, Myanmar. 2011UN
A 70-year-old woman laughs with family members inside a grocery store in Tachilek, Myanmar
UN A mother and her children smile and make funny faces for the camera inside their home in the small town of Clay Ashland, Liberia. The town is where the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has built a new magistrates' building, one of its Quick Impact Projects, or QiPs, which refurbish or construct courthouses, police stations, and police barracks, to strengthen the rule of law in the country.UN
A mother and her children inside their home in the small town of Clay Ashland, Liberia

The International Day of Happiness is based on the belief that happiness is a fundamental human right, and that promoting happiness and wellbeing can lead to a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable.

The resolution was initiated by Bhutan, a country which recognized the value of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product.

UN Woman in Timor LesteUN
A woman in front of graffiti in Timor Leste
UN Women sell tea in the town of Buur-Hakba, SomaliaUN
Women sell tea in the town of Buur-Hakba, Somalia

Six factors contribute to whether people view their lives positively: GDP; social support; healthy life expectancy; freedom; generosity; and absence of corruption.

Military conflict and poverty are significant factors correlated to low levels of wellbeing.

UN United Nations Mission in South Sudan [UNMISS] handed over a newly-completed Primary Health Care Unit to the community of Moroyok in Juba County.UN
The UN in South Sudan handed over a newly-completed healthcare unit to the community of in Juba County, South Sudan
UN This photograph shows one of these refugees upon arrival in Europe. Joy is the predominant emotion on her face upon finding a permanent home in Europe after misery in China. 1954UN
A refugee from China in 1954 on arriving in Europe

The latest research identified "10 Keys that tend to make life happier and more fulfilling".

They are:

  • Giving - do kind things for others
  • Relating - connect with people
  • Exercising - take care of your health
  • Awareness - be mindful
  • Trying - learn new things
  • Direction - have goals
  • Resilience - find ways to bounce back
  • Emotions - look for what's good
  • Acceptance - be comfortable with who you are
  • Meaning - be part of something bigger

And it helps if you live in a country with state-funded childcare, good universal education, free healthcare, affordable cost of living and low corruption. Finland here we come.

Presentational grey line

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]