HMC centre publishes World Happiness Report 2024

The College congratulates colleagues in the Wellbeing Research Centre on their publication of the 2024 World Happiness Report, published last week to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.

Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre is based at Harris Manchester, under the direction of Prof Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, the College’s Vice-Principal and Fellow and Tutor in Management. The Centre is an interdisciplinary research group focused on the empirical study of wellbeing, and took over responsibility for publishing the Report this year.

The World Happiness Report is a partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Report’s Editorial Board. Powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, it is the world’s foremost publication on global happiness: an annual publication which provides valuable, interdisciplinary insights into the wellbeing and happiness of people across the globe.

In addition to the rankings of the world’s ‘happiest’ countries, the report includes curated submissions from experts at the forefront of wellbeing science.

Appropriately, given the College’s specialism in lifelong learning, for the first time this year, the report gives separate rankings by age group, in many cases varying widely from the overall rankings. Lithuania tops the list for children and young people under 30, while Denmark is the world’s happiest nation for those 60 and older.
In comparing generations, those born before 1965 are, on average, happier than those born since 1980. Among Millennials, evaluation of one’s own life drops with each year of age, while among Boomers life satisfaction increases with age.

The Principal said: ‘We are delighted that such important research on global happiness is being directed by our Wellbeing Research Centre here at Harris Manchester College. Congratulations to our colleagues - Jan de Neve and the whole team’.

Read the full report at worldhappiness.report