Croatia ranks 63rd among 143 countries on the 2024 World Happiness Report. Finland ranks first for the seventh year, traditionally followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, while Afghanistan ranks last.
The populations of the 143 countries were asked to evaluate their happiness on a scale from zero to ten. The report assessed six factors - social support, personal income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.
In terms of the perception of happiness among people under 30, Croatia ranks 14th with a grade of 7.116, while ranking 80th, with a grade of 5.137, when it comes to those over 60.
The situation is similar in Croatia's neighbours Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"There are clearly generational as well as age effects at play here... as the older populations of Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro bear the most scars from the early 1990s wars and genocide following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia," the report says.
From 2006-2010 to 2021-2023, happiness decreased the most in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan, while increasing the most in Serbia, Bulgaria and Latvia.