Global Good

The world is kinder than people think it is, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report. The report was released on March 30. It’s published by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, in partnership with the United Nations, the Gallup research firm, and a board of experts.

Lara Aknin is one of those experts. Aknin is a psychology professor at Simon Fraser University, in Canada. She served as an editor on this year’s report. “The science suggests that kindness is more prevalent than we think,” Aknin told TIME for Kids, “and that it matters more than we think.”

Kindness Wins

The World Happiness Report examines data from more than 140 countries. There’s a section on benevolence, which is the tendency × tendency inclination to a particular action (noun) to do good or give back. Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands rank highest for overall benevolence (see map). Other countries shine, too. People in Liberia and Venezuela are most likely to help a stranger. Indonesia has the highest rate of volunteerism × volunteerism the practice of donating time to causes (noun) .

The researchers also paid close attention to this data point: how likely people feel it is that a lost wallet will be returned versus how often lost wallets are actually returned. The return rate is much higher than expected.

“We underestimate the kindness of our neighbors by roughly 50%,” Aknin says. “Failing to appreciate the kindness of our neighbors is problematic. We walk around the world maybe more fearful than we need to be. We miss the opportunities to form connections with other people.”