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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 19h

📊 While our author teams are busy gathering and analysing the latest data for our 2027 edition, don’t forget you already have access to over a decade’s worth of global data through our data dashboard. Read more 👉 mailchi.mp/worldhappiness.report/oc… Subscribe 👉 ow.ly/ZWzg50Zm19J

Photo of two people looking at data pinned on a board. Headline reads “Explore our happiness data”. A sub-heading reads “Curated content from the World Happiness Report”, plus a date label for October 2026.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 07/10/2026

Congratulations to World Happiness Report editor John Helliwell for receiving the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS)'s Distinguished Quality-of-Life Researcher Award. 👏

Photo of John Helliwell standing outside on a sunny day, smiling, and looking off to the side.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 06/10/2026

🚨 The Call for Abstracts for the 10th IPPA World Congress on Positive Psychology is now open! Submit your abstract by 30 November at www.ippaworldcongress.org/abstract

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 01/10/2026

Happiness is a science.    It can be measured, studied, and improved. 🔬

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 29/09/2026

🇨🇷 This year, Costa Rica became the first Latin American country to enter the top five on our leaderboard. With a relatively low GDP per capita, what factors might explain their happiness? Explore the data 👉 data.worldhappiness.report/country/…

Costa Rica happiness dashboard poster summarising ranks, life evaluation trends, emotions, and explanatory factors like GDP and social support.

The current average life evaluation is 7.4 out of 10.
Their highest rank is four, currently they are fourth, lowest was 23 and average is 13.

All information can be accessed at data.worldhappiness.report/country/CRI

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 24/09/2026

📵 Ch6 of #WHR2026 notes that, after deactivating Facebook and experiencing improvements in wellbeing, people still demand money to permanently deactivate. This finding suggests people may obtain goods from social media that are not adequately captured in measures of wellbeing.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 21/09/2026

Peace is a prerequisite for happiness, and everybody deserves the opportunity to live a happy life. #InvestInPeace

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 17/09/2026

📉 The wellbeing of younger generations has fallen dramatically in the Western world, but there is limited evidence of similar declines in other global regions.

Grid of 11 line charts titled "Life evaluations by generation," showing mean life evaluations (0-10 scale) from 2006-11 to 2020-25 for three birth cohorts - Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X+ - across the World and 10 regions. Trends vary by region: Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and East Asia show rising life evaluations for all generations, with Gen Z generally scoring highest. South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and North America and ANZ show declining trends, with Gen Z falling notably in North America and ANZ. Western Europe stays relatively flat and high, while Sub-Saharan Africa remains lowest overall with modest gains for Gen Z. Across most regions, Gen Z tends to report similar or higher life evaluations than older generations, though gaps narrow or reverse in some places. Source: Gallup World Poll (2006-2025), World Happiness Report 2026.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 15/09/2026

You probably know that Finland is the happiest country, but do you know why? Here, our editors dive into a few reasons behind the high scores of our top-ranking countries. 👉 If Finland or Costa Rica aren’t home for you, explore your country’s data at data.worldhappiness.report!

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 03/09/2026

🗞️ The World Happiness Report hits the headlines every year, but the value of wellbeing science continues beyond the launch. WHR 2027 will show how policymakers around the world are measuring and prioritising happiness, all year round.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 02/09/2026

Across 47 countries, the lightest social media use (less than an hour a day) is associated with the highest mean life satisfaction among girls. ⬇️ After more than an hour a day of social media use, life satisfaction declines.

Line chart titled 'Social media use and mean life satisfaction for girls,' subtitled 'Among girls worldwide, non-users and light users of social media are more satisfied with their lives than heavy users.' The x-axis shows hours of social media use per day (None, <1 hr, 1–2 hrs, 3–4 hrs, 5–6 hrs, 7+ hrs), and the y-axis shows mean life satisfaction, ranging from about 5.00 to 7.00.

Six lines represent regions: Central & Eastern Europe (purple), Latin America (pink), Middle East & North Africa (orange), Asia (yellow-green), Western Europe (blue), and English-speaking countries. A similar pattern is observed across all regions. Girls' mean life satisfaction rises with light social media use, peaks at low usage levels, then declines steadily as usage increases, dropping most sharply at 7+ hours per day.

The source is World Happiness Report 2026, for which a full citation is available.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 27/08/2026

Finland is the world’s happiest country. But what makes it this way? Our dashboard lets you explore all of the available data from Gallup, filtered by country.👇 data.worldhappiness.report/country/…

Finland happiness dashboard poster summarising ranks, life evaluation trends, emotions, and explanatory factors like GDP and social support.

The current average life evaluation in the US is 7.8 out of 10.
Their highest rank is first, currently they are first, lowest was 7 and average is 2.

All information can be accessed at data.worldhappiness.report/country/FIN

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 24/08/2026

Our habits don’t always bring us happiness. 📲 A University of Sussex led survey ranked scrolling on social media as the least enjoyable leisure activity, despite it being the most common.

Doomscrolling is our least enjoyable but most frequent habit

A bar graph showing average level of joy by activity. Listening to music is the highest scoring habit (scoring 6.16/7), and scrolling social media is the lowest (scoring 5.19/7). A full citation for the University of Sussex study is provided.

Graphic titled “Happiness vs habit”.

The main text reads “Browsing social media has ranked as the most frequent but least favourite leisure activity among Britons, according to a University of Sussex study.  
The happiest habit among respondents was listening to music (scoring 6.16/7).

Other activities that induced joy included playing a musical instrument (6.04/7), reading (6/7), crafting (5.92/7), and volunteering (5.84/7).

Sport, theatre, painting, and writing also all scored above 5.7.  The lowest joy score out of 21 habits was scrolling social media, at 5.19/7.”

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 20/08/2026

🥇 It’s not competition that makes for a happy society, it’s mutual support.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 13/08/2026

We've observed a large fall in youth wellbeing in four mainly English-speaking countries: the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Later evidence suggests a partial echoing drop in the UK + Ireland. www.worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/i…

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 11/08/2026

“The online world has encompassed so many parts of our lives that pretending we can lock it in a cupboard does a tremendous disservice to young people”. Ch4 author Andrew Przybylski highlights the risk of treating the issue of young people's social media use in isolation. 👇

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 06/08/2026

World Happiness Report 2027 will go beyond the trends in global happiness to examine how government spending across the globe can practically promote happiness.👇

A photo of World Happiness Report Editor, Prof Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, alongside the quote, “This will mark a special moment in the history of the World Happiness report as we go beyond the global trends in wellbeing and what might explain them, to focus on operationalising wellbeing and how to put it at the heart of policy-making”.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 04/08/2026

↗️ A single, focused measure of life satisfaction is essential to meaningfully improve lives. Catch World Happiness Report editor John Helliwell on the Lives Well Lived podcast with Peter Singer and Kasia de Lazari Radek. 👇 www.petersinger.info/podcast

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 30/07/2026

🎊 With America turning 250 earlier this month, we’ve been reflecting on its happiness performance. Did you know you can access all the available data for each country through our dashboard? Track your country's journey. 👇 data.worldhappiness.report/map

United States happiness dashboard poster summarising ranking, life evaluation trends, emotions, and explanatory factors including GDP and social support.

The current average life evaluation in the US is 6.8 out of 10.

Their highest rank was 11, lowest was 24, currently its 23, and the average rank for the US in the World Happiness Report is 17.

All displayed information, including explanatory factors such as social support and healthy life expectancy, can be accessed at data.worldhappiness.report/country/USA

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 28/07/2026

Test the power of happiness for yourself. 👋 Start a conversation with a stranger, and see how you feel after.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 23/07/2026

🤳 Social media use in the Middle East and North Africa is among the highest in the world, although considerable differences appear among countries. On average, heavy social media use (more than five hours per day) is associated with lower wellbeing, but the impact depends on how it is used.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 21/07/2026

In the case of social media, reviewing and translating research into policy guidance is a challenging process. Effective evidence-based policy development requires clear and accurate information on what science can and cannot tell us about key questions of societal importance.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 14/07/2026

More details 👉 www.worldhappiness.report/news/world-h...

Page titled 'Flourishing is contagious: evidence that cultivating wellbeing in one person lifts the wellbeing and performance of others'.

Authors:

Richard J. Davidson
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Matthew J. Hirshberg
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Announcement for the World Happiness Report launching in March 2027, accessible at worldhappiness.report

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 14/07/2026

NEW: We’ve assembled a global team of leading researchers on #happiness and public policy for World Happiness Report 2027.

Graphic titled ‘Our 2027 author team, Happiness and public policy.’ Users are encouraged to swipe to explore.

Page titled 'Global happiness and public policy'.

Authors:

John F. Helliwell
Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia

Lara B. Aknin
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University

Haifang Huang
Department of Economics, University of Alberta

Shun Wang
International Business School Suzhou, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Page titled 'Value for money: how to improve wellbeing and reduce misery'.

Authors:

Richard Layard, David Frayman, Christian Krekel, Sara MacLennan, and Isaac Parkes - all based at the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Page titled 'Wellbeing transformation in government policymaking: a natural language analysis of Japan’s policy system'.

Authors:

Susumu Nagayama
Graduate School of Social Data Science, Hitotsubashi University

Tadashi Yokoyama
Faculty of Economics, Otemon Gakuin University

Yusuke Tsugawa
Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles

Alden Lai
School of Global Public Health, New York University

Kan Hiroshi Suzuki
Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 09/07/2026

For World Happiness Report 2027, experts from across the globe will share examples of national-level and sector-specific policies that aim to promote happiness, and examine the impact they have had. Read more 👉 ow.ly/pTPB50Zm19Q Subscribe 👉 ow.ly/ZWzg50Zm19J

Photo of Richard Layard. Headline reads “’Meet the minds behind WHR 2027”. A sub-heading reads “Curated content from the World Happiness Report”, plus a date label for July 2026.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 08/07/2026

What are Finland and the other Nordic countries getting right?

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 02/07/2026

Ch8 of #WHR2026 finds the estimated relationship between internet use and #wellbeing varies sharply across generations, genders, and regions. It is strongly negative for Gen Z, moderately negative for Millennials, near zero for Gen X, and slightly positive for Baby Boomers.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 30/06/2026

Many popular social media platforms have shifted from social connection to algorithmic feeds, a move which appears to be harming users. 🤝 We need to put the social back into social media.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 25/06/2026

⬆️ Since the first years of the Gallup World Poll (2006-2010), 21 countries have gained a point or more on the 0–10 scale. Most of these countries are in Central and Eastern Europe, reflecting the European happiness convergence that has been clear for more than a decade.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 24/06/2026

😕 The social media platforms that have lost sight of the ‘social’ aspect appear to be more harmful to our happiness than those that facilitate social connection. Tune into World Happiness Report editor John Helliwell on the Lives Well Lived podcast, out now. petersinger.info/podcast

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 18/06/2026

Explore in Ch6 of #WHR2026 👉 www.worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/soci...

The structure of the social media use problem appears to be similar.

Bursztyn et al. show that product traps exist whenever the value of relevant products stems in whole, or in large part, from the fact that people would lose out from non-use or non-consumption, on the assumption that other people are using or consuming those products.

The key point is that many social media users wish the platform they use did not exist and would even be willing to pay to put it out of existence.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 18/06/2026

👤 Is social media use driven by FOMO? @casssunstein.bsky.social suggests that FOMO (fear of missing out) is a major driver for social media users to stay logged in, proposing that, if users could coordinate and agree to stop using Instagram or TikTok, many would be better off.

Graphic titled “There’s a party next Saturday, and many of your friends are going.”, with the subheading “What will you do?”. Users are encouraged to swipe to explore.

There is an image of two people dancing.

The text reads:

1. Attend the party

Contingent on there being a party, you might choose this option.

In fact, your preference might be both clear and strong.

You might even be willing to pay a great deal to attend the party.

There is an image of a person lying on the sofa reading a book.

The text reads:

2. Skip the party

Perhaps not attending will give a
signal that you would prefer not to give:
that you do not like parties, that you do
not like your friends, or that you do not
like the host.

The cost of giving any of those signals, and jeopardising friendships, might seem very high.

A text box at the bottom says “What if there was a third option?” and encourages users to swipe.

The word cancelled appears in big text in the top right corner.

The text reads:

3. The party does not take place
 You might wish that the party had never been arranged. Or you might hope it will be cancelled.

Your preference ordering is: (3), (1), and (2).

If the party is cancelled, you won’t experience the “fear of missing out”, any comparative disadvantage, or risk sending an undesired signal by not attending.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 11/06/2026

😟 Three empirical studies raise serious doubts about whether social media use makes people happy. Explore the idea of social media use as a 'product trap' in Ch6 of #WHR2026, written by @casssunstein.bsky.social. 👇 ow.ly/j2Tf50Z9Zmx

Graphic titled “Does social media use make people happy?”, with the subheading “Three empirical studies raise serious doubts”. Users are encouraged to swipe to explore.

1. People are willing to pay far less to use social media platforms than they would demand to stop using them.

The fact that people would pay little or nothing to use such platforms raises the possibility that many think they are wasting time when doing so.

2. People lose welfare from using Facebook.

Even after experiencing a happier month without Facebook, however, they would demand a significant amount of money to stop using the platform for an additional month.

The fact that people are more anxious and depressed when using Facebook provides strong cautionary notes about the idea that such use increases wellbeing.

3. Young people would demand significant money to stop using Instagram and TikTok, but also be willing to pay to eliminate those platforms from their community.

Social media platforms impose a “negative non-user externality”, i.e., they impose a cost on people who do not use them.

Many users stay on the platform for just one reason: other people are on the platform. For that reason, they are essentially trapped. They would like to find a way out.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 10/06/2026

Globally, the relationship between Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) and lower wellbeing is stronger among adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds than among their higher-status peers. Explore Ch7 of #WHR2026 👉 ow.ly/kHmF50Z9Ncl

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 03/06/2026

Research by @casssunstein.bsky.social suggests that many people use social media because other people use social media and that, if social media use were somehow reduced or even stopped, many people believe they would be better off. Read #WHR2026 Ch 6 👉 ow.ly/NWGf50Z36cn

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 28/05/2026

☝️ One simple question effectively captures what matters most: how satisfied people are with their lives.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 26/05/2026

Find out more👇 www.worldhappiness.report/news/submit-... (3/3)

Quote card reads “I met so many people that work on similar topics and have the same hope for giving wellbeing, and social capital, a chance.”

Quote card reads “I’ve formed connections with new colleagues, heard about new and exciting work, and made new friends.”

Quote card reads “It was such a surreal experience working collaboratively with the editors and the entire team at WHR who I have admired greatly for many years.”

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 26/05/2026

Get the chance to join over 150 people who have contributed to our publications over the years (www.worldhappiness.report/contributors/) by submitting your chapter proposal before Sunday 31 May. (2/3)

Quote card reads “Sharing the chapters made them come to life and allowed a exchange of knowledge which  – in a niche research field – is really valuable.”

Quote card reads “I got the chance to share my work with top scholars and thinkers.”

Quote card reads “I have heard many theories and ideas that have inspired new avenues of research which I can pursue in my own professional life.”

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 26/05/2026

🤔Thinking of submitting a chapter proposal for World Happiness Report 2027? World Happiness Report offers a unique chance for wellbeing experts to come together over an important topic each year. Don’t just take our word for it, swipe to hear from previous authors.👇 (1/3)

Graphic titled “Considering submitting a chapter proposal for WHR 2027?”. Users are encouraged to swipe to hear from previous authors.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 21/05/2026

⏮️ A 2024 survey by the Pew Research Center revealed positive and negative experiences of social media among US teens, but the Harris Poll found between one-third to one-half of US Gen Z adults wish that some of the platforms they use each day had never existed.

Bar graph presenting the % of US youth who wish social media platforms didn’t exist.

Percentages for each platform presented:
X (Twitter) 50%
TikTok 47%
Snapchat 43%
Facebook 37%
Instagram 34%
Smartphones 21%
Messaging apps 19%
The internet 17%
Netflix 17%
YouTube 15%

The source of the graph is Harris Poll (2024), and presented in Figure 3.1 of World Happiness Report 2026, for which a full citation is provided.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 19/05/2026

We are seeking global examples of how public expenditure can best promote the happiness of the people, for World Happiness Report 2027. 📃 Please submit your proposal by Sunday 31 May for the opportunity to write your own chapter in the report. ow.ly/e4bE50Z06XL

Photo of Westminster, with the heading 'Happiness and Public Policy'. The. subtitle reads 'World Happiness Report 2027'.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 12/05/2026

🧑‍⚖️ World Happiness Report 2027 will investigate the existing and potential impact of public policy on happiness. Read more and submit your chapter proposal 👉 mailchi.mp/worldhappiness.report/ma… Subscribe 👉 worldhappiness.report/subscribe

Photo of a child in a crowd. Headline reads “Happiness and public policy”. A sub-heading reads “Curated content from the World Happiness Report”, plus a date label for May 2026.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 06/05/2026

The distribution of light, moderate, and heavy social media users is broadly similar around the world. Latin America (24.2%) is home to the highest proportion of heavy users (5+ hours), as well as the Middle East and North Africa (20.2%).

Graph indicating the level of social media use across six regions.

The data is compiled from students completing the OECD PISA survey (2022) and presented in Figure 5.1 of World Happiness Report 2026. A full citation is provided.

In Asia:
8.9% no social media
23.2% < 1 hour
34.5% 1-2 hours
18.1% 3-4 hours
8.3% 5-6 hours
6.9% 7+ hrs

Central and Eastern Europe:
6.2% no social media
20.9% < 1 hour
35.9% 1-2 hours
20.7% 3-4 hours
9.6% 5-6 hours
6.7% 7+ hrs

In English-speaking countries:
4.7% no social media use
16.2% < 1 hour
38.1% 1-2 hours
23.7% 3-4 hours
10.5% 5-6 hours
6.8% 7+ hrs

Latin America:
9.9% no social media use
18.4% < 1 hour
26.3% 1-2 hours
21.2% 3-4 hours
12.1% 5-6 hours
12.1% 7+ hrs

Middle East & North Africa:
15.0% no social media use
19.8% < 1 hour
26.9% 1-2 hours
18.1% 3-4 hours
10.7% 5-6 hours
9.5% 7+ hrs

Western Europe:
5.0% no social media use
17.6% < 1 hour
41.4% 1-2 hours
22.3% 3-4 hours
8.8% 5-6 hours
4.9% 7+ hrs

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 30/04/2026

👧📉 Heavy social media use is associated with lower life satisfaction among girls across the globe. Among boys, this significant negative trend is only observed in Western Europe and English-speaking countries.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 28/04/2026

The average US teen spends almost five hours a day on social media, according to recent Gallup data. With established links between heavy social media use and lower #wellbeing among the young in English-speaking countries, is this level of use safe?

Image of Prof Jonathan Haidt, author of World Happiness Report 2026, alongside the text: “The average US teen now spends nearly five hours per day on social media (which includes roughly 2 hours on YouTube, 1.5 hours on TikTok, and 1 hour on Instagram).”

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 23/04/2026

🇲🇽 In Mexico, higher WhatsApp & Facebook use is associated with higher positive affect. WhatsApp is further associated with lower negative affect and mental health problems. X, Instagram & TikTok use is linked with significantly higher negative affect and mental health problems.

Coefficients presented under the title “Social media platforms and positive affect”

Each line represents a different social media platform, with their logos displayed. The coefficients are:

Whatsapp: 0.040**
Facebook: 0.055***
X: -0.006
Instagram: -0.010
TikTok: -0.032

The source of the graph is ENBIARE (2021), presented in Figure 2.14 from World Happiness Report 2026, published in Chapter 2 and of which a full citation is provided.

Coefficients presented under the title “Social media platforms and negative affect”

Each line represents a different social media platform, with their logos displayed. The coefficients are:

Whatsapp: -0.019
Facebook: 0.008
X: 0.078*
Instagram: -0.026
TikTok: 0.114***

The source of the graph is ENBIARE (2021), presented in Figure 2.14 from World Happiness Report 2026, published in Chapter 2 and of which a full citation is provided.

Coefficients presented under the title “Social media platforms and mental health problems”

Each line represents a different social media platform, with their logos displayed. The coefficients are:

Whatsapp: -0.012**
Facebook: 0.001
X: 0.005
Instagram: 0.013
TikTok: 0.021*

The source of the graph is ENBIARE (2021), presented in Figure 2.14 from World Happiness Report 2026, published in Chapter 2 and of which a full citation is provided.

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World Happiness Report @worldhappiness.report · 21/04/2026

Professional science organisations have reached different conclusions and policy recommendations on social media, despite examining similar research. Sophie Lloyd-Hurwitz and Andrew Przybylski (Oxford Internet Institute) identified six good governance practices in Ch4 #WHR2026.

Six practices for rigorous evidence synthesis. Users are encouraged to swipe to explore.

1. Citation accuracy and fidelity

The clear correspondence between specific claims and cited studies is the most fundamental standard of good evidence governance.

Less rigorous synthesis contains citation inaccuracies, or subtler misrepresentations of evidence.

2. Suitable contextualisaation

Strong synthesis provides suitable contextualisation about cited studies including information about methodology, sample characteristics, and specific findings.

Less detailed work cites multiple studies relating to a single claim without substantive discussion of their content, seeming to use citations decoratively instead of supporting a specific point of knowledge.

3. Systematic limitation acknowledgement

Where limitations impact how a study, or a field of studies, might be interpreted (including practical effect sizes, constraints on generalisability, and methodological constraints) these should be acknowledged.

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