It's been more than 10 years since the first-ever World Happiness Report was released in 2012. Since then, the United Nations has released an annual ranking of the world's happiest countries: the places where the populations are, on average, more content than in other destinations. In that time, many nations have gone through a multi-year pandemic, natural disasters and wars. But the UN and governments across the globe remain committed to finding out what exactly makes people happier so they can develop policies to increase wellbeing. This research, released on Thursday, March 19, 2026 (the day before World Happiness Day), is based on a three-year average of each population’s assessment of their quality of life. It takes into account six key factors that impact happiness: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and the absence of corruption. It also investigates the distribution of happiness within countries.…