Despite the wars: Israelis are in eighth place in the global happiness index

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The survey is based on the same question addressed to citizens of 147 countries: “Imagine a ladder, the steps of which are numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. The top of the ladder symbolizes the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder symbolizes the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder do you feel you are standing at the current point in time?” The annual ranking is determined by the average of the last three years.

In Israel, the average for the past three years stands at 7.187, while the figure from 2023 – after the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 – reflected a dramatic deterioration to 21st place in the world. Since then, in 2024 and 2025, the Israelis returned to the top of the world, and the score itself also recorded an increase from last year, although in an international comparison, Israel remained in eighth place. The survey editors said that the multi-year average is designed to neutralize the effects of one-off crises.

The deep sources of Israeli resilience

In the first place in the standings standings, as last year, Finland (7.764). After her: Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel and Luxembourg. Switzerland completes the top ten. The Nordic welfare state model is considered to explain the relative happiness of the residents of these countries, due to the importance of social support (granted by the state, and not necessarily the family as in other societies). For countries like Costa Rica and Mexico (12th place), cultural perceptions may play a major role, but researchers still cannot fully explain the findings.

In Israel, according to Anat Panti, happiness policy researcher in the Science, Technology and Society Program at Bar-Ilan University, it is mainly about the sense of community that contributes to satisfaction. “The deep sources of Israeli resilience: family, community, faith, a sense of belonging and strong social ties – still manage to keep large parts of society far above the global average,” said Fenty.

According to her, one of the particularly striking figures this year is that, broken down by age group, Israelis under the age of 25 are ranked as the happiest age group within the Israeli population and in 3rd place in the world. “The fact that Israel is still ranked eighth in the world, and in particular that the young Israelis are ranked third, shows the strengths of the population in Israel compared to other countries,” she said.

However, in other tested indices there was a deterioration in the Israelis’ answers. In the indicators of worry, sadness and anger – negative emotions experienced by the population – Israel jumped from 119th place before the war to 39th place in the world. In the index, the perception of corruption fell to 107th place, compared to 80th place in 2021. “The increase in the indicators of concern and anger and the erosion of public trust make it clear that resilience is not immunity,” added Fenty. According to Fenty, the survey on which the current ranking is based took place in July 2025, after the “Operation with a dog” in Iran but before the release of the hostages from Gaza. According to her assessment, the level of emotions The negatives in the Israeli public would have decreased if the survey had been held after October 2025.