A UN-backed study indicates that excessive use of social media is negatively affecting the mental health of young people in numerous nations.
Excessive use of social media is linked to a significant drop in well-being among young individuals, with the impact being especially concerning for teenage girls in English-speaking nations and Western Europe, as highlighted by the World Happiness Report 2026 released on Thursday.
The yearly report, released by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, also revealed that Finland is the happiest country globally for the ninth consecutive year, with other Nordic nations like Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway placing within the top 10 nations.
However, it emphasized the decline in life satisfaction among individuals under 25 years old in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand over the last ten years, and indicated that spending excessive time scrolling through social media is a major contributor to this pattern.
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A new addition to the top five on the list is Costa Rica, which moved up to fourth position this year, having progressed from 23rd place in 2023.
The report links this to improved well-being resulting from family relationships and other social ties.
“We believe it’s due to the quality of their social lives and the stability they are currently experiencing,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an Oxford economics professor who leads the Wellbeing Research Centre and co-edits the World Happiness Report.
“Latin America as a whole has deep family connections, robust social bonds, and a high degree of social capital, as a sociologist might refer to it, more so than in other regions,” he added.
The report indicated that Finland and other Northern European nations maintain their top position due to a mix of affluence, equitable distribution of resources, a social welfare system that safeguards citizens during economic downturns, and a high life expectancy.
Similar to past years, countries located in or close to areas experiencing significant conflict continue to be at the bottom of the rankings. Afghanistan is once again listed as the least happy nation, followed by Sierra Leone and Malawi in Africa.
The mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan occupied positions 65, 90, and 26 respectively.
The rankings were determined by responses from approximately 100,000 individuals across 140 countries and regions, who evaluated their own life satisfaction. The research was conducted in collaboration with the analytics company Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
In the majority of nations, around 1,000 individuals are reached through phone calls or in-person interactions annually.
Participants were requested to assess their lives using a scale ranging from 0 to 10. In countries where English is spoken and in Western Europe, individuals under 25 saw their scores decrease by nearly one point during the last ten years.
The report highlighted that the negative link between well-being and heavy social media usage is especially worrying for young females. For instance, it noted that 15-year-old girls who spend five or more hours on social media experienced a decline in their overall happiness, when compared to those who use it less.
According to researchers, young individuals who spend under an hour daily on social media experience the greatest sense of well-being, even more than those who avoid social media completely. However, teenagers are typically spending around two and a half hours each day on these platforms.
“It is evident that we must strive to reintroduce the ‘social’ aspect into social media,” De Neve stated.
Scientists observed that in certain regions, like the Middle East and South America, the relationship between social media usage and happiness is more favorable — and young people’s well-being has not declined even with extensive social media engagement.
The report indicated that various elements vary across different continents, yet it stated that excessive use of social media in certain nations is a significant factor in the drop in young people’s well-being.
It mentioned that the most concerning platforms are those that use algorithmic feeds, highlight influencers, and primarily feature visual content, as they promote social comparisons. Users of platforms that mainly support communication tend to fare better.
The 2026 rankings represent the second consecutive year where no English-speaking nations are found within the top 10. The United States holds the 23rd position, Canada is placed 25th, and the UK comes in at 29th.
The study, which highlights social media, is released at a moment when an increasing number of nations have either prohibited or are evaluating restrictions on social media for young people.
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This piece was first published in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a top news outlet covering China and Asia.
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