Happiness in Germany is on the rise -- or at least that's what the findings of the latest World Happiness Report seems to suggest.
The report, which is published every year around World Happiness Day (March 20th), examines levels of self-reported satisfaction around the world to find out where people are happiest.
In the 2026 report Germany is ranked 17th, up five spots from its position a year before. It's also one of just a few western countries that recorded an improved score, along with Portugal, Iceland and Finland.
At first glance, this year's World Happiness Report confirms a trend that has become something of a modern truism: That people in the Nordic countries are the happiest. Finland held onto its position at the top of the ranking, as it has for the past nine years, followed by Iceland, Denmark and Sweden.
Of the top five, Costa Rica (4th) is the only country from beyond northern Europe to make it into the mix. Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg and Switzerland follow in sixth to tenth place.Â
Among Germany's neighbours in mainland Europe, Belgium (14th) and Kosovo (16th) also ranked slightly higher this year. While Germany narrowly beat Slovenia, Austria and the Czech Republic (18th, 19th and 20th respectively).
Happiness converging across Europe and within Germany
Looking beyond the ranking, however, the report suggests that happiness levels are converging across Europe and within Germany.
"There remains a large gap [in happiness] between the top and bottom countries...," the authors of the report write.
But they note that countries near the top of the ranking are tightly grouped: "The top twenty have a spread of less than one point on the 0–10 scale."
So while people in Germany may envy their neighbours to the north, it's worth keeping in mind that the differences here are pretty slim -- even slimmer between Germany and the other Central European countries in the top 20.
The report highlights the fact that three of the top 20 countries are now from Eastern Europe (Kosovo, Slovenia and the Czech Republic), adding that this reflects "the long-term convergence between Eastern and Western Europe."
Within Germany, happiness levels in the eastern versus western part parts of the country also appear to have largely levelled off, suggesting the end of a decades-long trend in which people from former East German regions reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction.
READ ALSO: How does Germany's 'phantom border' still divide the country?
There is practically no difference between East and West in terms of happiness, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, one of the authors of this year's report told the German Press Agency.
Interestingly this convergence within Germany appears to be a major contributing factor to Germany's jump in the world ranking.
"From 2008–2010, life evaluations were almost half a point lower in the former East Germany, while by 2023–2025 that gap had essentially disappeared," the report explains.
This "amounts to about 0.08 points for the German average. In the crowded top section of the global rankings, that contribution amounts to about six ranks."
Former East German states make up about 20 percent of the country's total population.
Are people in Germany really getting happier?
A recent survey by the market research institute Ipsos seems to confirm the idea that overall satisfaction is rising in Germany: According to the survey, 72 percent of Germans describe themselves as happy - an increase of eight percentage points compared to last year.
The study suggests that the most important happiness factors in Germany are the feeling of being valued and loved (40 percent), family and children (35 percent) and physical health (27 percent).
Other recent studies have come to similar conclusions, including SKL's 2025 Happiness Atlas, which also suggested a narrowing gap in east-west satisfaction.
READ ALSO: Germans are becoming happier and more emotional, claims study
Social media
There is one trend, however, that threatens to derail happiness levels around the world, according to the World Happiness Report, and that is the growing use of social media use.
The report highlights a negative correlation between well-being and the amount of time people use social media, especially among young people.
"Two years ago, we noticed a massive decline in the well-being of young people in the Western world...," says De Neve.
This can be explained, at least in part, by intensive use of certain social media, he suggests: "We found that moderate use, i.e. one hour or less per day, seems to be optimal - and that anything beyond that is associated with a decline in well-being."
Girls tend to be more affected than boys in this regard, and the type of platform being used also makes a difference.
"Platforms that promote algorithmically curated content from influencers are not good for well-being," says De Neve. In contrast, platforms that promote social contact often improve satisfaction.
German leaders are currently mulling policies that might reduce young people's exposure to social media and algorithmically curated content in particular -- namely by considering a ban on social media use for children.
READ ALSO: Will Germany ban social media for children?
Comments