The World’s Funniest Nations, According To Scientific Study

Humour serves as a universal bridge between cultures, yet its expression varies dramatically across the globe. When you visit a new destination or relocate abroad, discovering people who share your preferred sense of humour can be crucial to forming lasting friendships and feeling at home in unfamiliar surroundings.

With this in mind, we wanted to find out which nations are the funniest or most humorous, so we asked over 6,000 participants from around the world to answer a series of questions from the Humour Styles Questionnaire, an assessment of four dimensions relating to individual differences in uses of humour.

Key findings

Czech Republic tops our study as the funniest nation, scoring an impressive 72.33 out of a possible 112 and ranking highest for self-defeating humour
Portugal ranks as the second-funniest nation, with Portuguese participants scoring on average 71.42 and scoring particularly highly for affiliative humour
Ireland (71.18), Belgium (71.12), Chile (71.08) and Greece (71.08) make up the top five most humorous nations.
South Africa scores highest for affiliative and self-enhancing humour, the two most positive humour styles in the Humour Styles study.

What is the Humour Styles study?

Developed by Rod Martin and his colleagues in 2003 and published in the Journal of Research in Personality, the Humour Styles Questionnaire helps researchers and psychologists understand how different people use humour in their everyday lives. It doesn’t just reveal whether someone is ‘funny’ but also how they use humour and what purpose it serves across four different humour styles (more on that below).

For our study, over 6,000 respondents from 30 countries were asked a number of questions from the Humour Styles Questionnaire to ascertain their different humour styles. Each question was presented as a statement with respondents asked to say whether they ‘disagree’, ‘slightly disagree’, were ‘neutral’, ‘slightly agree’ or ‘agree’ with the statement in question. The cumulative scores provide a comprehensive picture of a nation's overall humour profile; the higher the score, the more humour-oriented the population.

The World's Funniest Nations

Based on surveying thousands of people around the world, we found the following countries were the funniest. Remember, this is an analysis of how humorous people are and can be; we didn’t measure people’s ability to be boring or not funny.

Czech Republic (72.33)

The Czech Republic tops our list with an impressive 72.33 out of 112 on the Humour Styles Questionnaire, making it the world's funniest nation in our study.

Czechs excel at self-defeating humour and also rank highly for aggressive humour, a potent mix of self-deprecation, razor-sharp irony, and expertly wielded sarcasm. This isn't your typical loud, performative comedy. Czech humour is legendarily dry, operating through deadpan delivery and subtle verbal jabs that can sometimes catch you off guard. Rooted in history, Czechs have refined humour into a survival tool, using wit as psychological armour that has evolved into a defining national characteristic.

If you’re a fan of self-deprecating humour and are considering a move to the likes of Prague or Brno, consider using Remitly to send money from the UK to the Czech Republic.

Portugal (71.42)

Ranking as the second funniest nation in our study, Portuguese humour leans more into the affiliative and aggressive styles, leaving them with a sense of humour that blends both warmth and wit. Known for their quick-thinking jokes, they often use humour to charm, tease and disarm. Portugal’s high ranking reflects its reputation for being emotionally intelligent and socially agile.

Ireland (71.18)

Known globally for their humour, the Irish score an impressive 71.18 out of 112 on average in the study. Scoring highly for affiliative and self-enhancing humour, this may align with the Irish’s reputation for friendliness and excellent storytelling. It’s a great combination of humour styles, leading to citizens of Ireland being sharp, charming, and relatable.

Belgium (71.12)

Ranking fourth is Belgium. With understated wit and a dry sense of humour, this nation scored solidly across all humour types, reflecting a balanced approach to humour. They often use humour to smooth social situations, but they don’t shy away from using sarcasm or irony if the situation calls for it.

Chile (71.08)

Ranking in fifth place is Chile with a score of 71.08. Scoring highly in the humour styles of affiliative and self-enhancing, this suggests that Chileans rely on their humour to navigate tricky situations, challenges and also helps to maintain close relationships with others. Known as a nation with strong culture and familial ties, they use humour to strengthen relationships with those around them.

Greece (71.08)

Matching Chile with the same score, Greece showcases a classic Mediterranean humour style with Greeks being quick-witted, a little self-deprecating and emotionally expressive. They often use humour to bond with each other, cope with their current situation and tell stories, all helping them make meaningful connections, great news for anyone visiting or relocating here.

Australia (71.05)

Aussies are known for having a dry, sarcastic and direct sense of humour, it’s a similarity that’s encouraged many Brits to move to Australia. They often use humour that’s playful, which can come across sometimes as ‘taking the mick’; however, their humour is also quite self-aware. People from Australia score highly across the self-defeating and aggressive styles, which means whilst they might make fun of others, they’re also more than happy to make fun of themselves too.

Poland (70.87)

Known for using humour in a more subtle way, and ranking in eighth is Poland. Much like Australians, Poles score highly when it comes to aggressive and self-defeating humour styles, The nation often uses jokes to handle adversity yet they still engage warmly with others when it comes to joking around.

Denmark (70.61)

Danes are known for having strong social bonds and use humour to keep this alive. Scoring 70.61 out of 112, Denmark ranks highly in the affiliative humour style, meaning they stay cool-headed and composed, using their wit to help smooth out any awkward social situations.

Hungary (70.55)

Rounding off the top 10 is Hungary, known for their darker use of humour. The nation tops the list when it comes to the aggressive style of humour, where they’ll often use irony and clever cultural references to make people laugh. It’s the kind of humour that comes from having a deeper intelligence, so while it isn’t your typical obvious kind of ‘laugh out loud’ funny, it still helps to strengthen social bonds by helping people to feel at ease.

World’s Top 30 Funniest Nations

Rank	Country & Continent	Average ‘humour’ score (out of 112)
1	Czech Republic, Europe	72.33
2	Portugal, Europe	71.42
3	Ireland, Europe	71.18
4	Belgium, Europe	71.12
5	Chile, South America	71.08
5	Greece, Europe	71.08
7	Australia, Oceania	71.05
8	Poland, Europe	70.87
9	Denmark, Europe	70.61
10	Hungary, Europe	70.55
11	Switzerland, Europe	70.30
12	Netherlands, Europe	70.13
13	France, Europe	70.08
14	Mexico, North America	70.02
15	Austria, Europe	69.83
16	Estonia, Europe	69.51
17	Canada, North America	69.50
18	United Kingdom, Europe	69.48
19	South Africa, Africa	69.26
20	Norway, Europe	69.14
21	Finland, Europe	69.03
22	Sweden, Europe	68.83
23	Spain, Europe	68.64
24	Brazil, South America	68.59
25	New Zealand, Oceania	68.42
26	Japan, Asia	68.23
27	Germany, Europe	68.21
28	Italy, Europe	67.96
29	United States, North America	67.85
30	Philippines, Asia	67.03

The study's four different humour types

While our study primarily analysed the nations with the highest overall humour scores across 16 questions, we also examined distinct humour styles to uncover which countries favour specific types of humour in their daily interactions.

Affiliative humour

This humour style serves as social glue, helping people bond with others while creating positive feelings and smoothing potentially awkward situations. It's an invaluable skill for building new connections and fostering friendships, ideal for people visiting for the first time or trying to settle in a new place and with a new social group.

Considered one of the healthiest humour styles due to its adaptive nature, affiliative humour sees South Africa leading with the highest average score of 16.76 out of 28 possible points. Ireland follows closely at 16.21, with Portugal rounding out the top three with 16.13.

The countries that scored the highest on average for affiliative humour:

🇿🇦 South Africa (16.76)
🇮🇪 Ireland (16.21)
🇵🇹 Portugal (16.13)
🇲🇽 Mexico (16.06)
🇩🇰 Denmark (16.00)

Self-enhancing humour

Another positive humour style, self-enhancing humour acts as a psychological buffer, helping individuals maintain optimism and resilience during challenging or stressful periods.

South Africa again claims the top spot with a score of 16.65 out of 28, followed by the Philippines at 15.42. The United States ranks third in this category, reflecting Americans' tendency to rely on humour as a coping mechanism during difficult times.

The countries that scored the highest on average for self-enhancing humour

🇿🇦 South Africa (16.65)
🇵🇭 Philippines (15.42)
🇺🇸 USA (15.05)
🇧🇷 Brazil (14.74)
🇮🇪 Ireland (14.62)

Aggressive humour

Characterised by sarcasm, teasing, and ridicule, aggressive humour often comes at others' expense. While generally viewed as more negative than other humour styles, those who employ it may not intend harm; it's simply their preferred mode of comedic expression.

Hungary leads this category with a score of 15.62 out of 28, followed by Poland at 14.61 and the Czech Republic at 14.50.

The countries that scored the highest on average for aggressive humour

🇭🇺 Hungary (14.62)
🇵🇱 Poland (14.61)
🇨🇿 Czech Republic (14.50)
🇳🇱 Netherlands (14.43)
🇵🇹 Portugal (14.27)

Self-defeating humour

This more problematic humour style involves self-deprecation and putting oneself down, often to gain approval, mask vulnerability, or avoid confrontation. Unlike aggressive humour's outward focus, self-defeating humour turns the comedic lens inward.

The Czech Republic tops this category with a score of 12.85, followed by Poland and Australia, suggesting that people from these nations may use self-deprecating humour.

The countries that scored the highest on average for self-defeating humour

🇨🇿 Czech Republic (12.85)
🇵🇱 Poland (12.24)
🇦🇺 Australia (12.14)
🇬🇷 Greece (12.12)
🇳🇴 Norway (11.99)

Making new friends

Humour can be a fantastic way to make new friends, as finding those with a similar comedic style can help to break barriers and make you feel more connected when making conversation and developing new relationships.

Understanding different humour styles around the world means you’ll know what to expect when you visit, or when you make the jump to move abroad. Engaging with locals and using a similar style of humour can be a handy shortcut to establishing those new connections. If you really want to jump into the deep end, perhaps you could try out comedy clubs when moving to a new country to really get a flavour for the jokes of your new home.

Methodology: How we discovered the world's funniest nations

Using Prolific, we tested 6,000 adult participants from 30 countries around the world on the Humour Styles Questionnaire. The research paper itself describes the test as one that ‘assesses four dimensions relating to individual differences in uses of humor’. It tests how funny people may be in the real world and how they use different types of humour.

The higher they scored on the study, the funnier they could be seen as by others according to the research. We calculated the average score of people in each country to provide an average 'humour' score for each nation. The highest any nation would be able to score throughout the study is 112.

Not all countries in the world were tested due to polling limitations, this is something we would like to explore in future. The test accounts for how funny people can be, not how unfunny they are, therefore assuming individuals are not capable of using humour would be an incorrect view of the data.

All data is correct as of June 2025.

References
16 questions were taken from the Humour Styles Questionnaire, developed by Rod Martin Ph.D.

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