Wellbeing Research Centre

What Wellbeing Research Centre does

The Wellbeing Research Centre is an interdisciplinary academic research centre housed at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, founded in 2019. It studies subjective wellbeing, happiness determinants, and policy impacts on population welfare using large-scale empirical methods, including analysis of Gallup World Poll data covering 140+ countries, OECD PISA surveys covering 270,000+ adolescents across 47 countries, randomized controlled trials, and cross-national longitudinal studies. From 2024, the Centre became the publisher of the World Happiness Report, the annual global happiness ranking produced in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Its core outputs are the World Happiness Report (annual, 140+ countries, ~100,000 respondents), the UK Wellbeing Report, and a portfolio of 144+ peer-reviewed publications in journals including Nature Communications, The Lancet, and Harvard Business Review. It also co-publishes research through the World Wellbeing Movement coalition and maintains strategic collaborations with the International Baccalaureate (reaching 1.2 million students) and S&P Global Foundation (under the three-year, $10 million StepForward initiative on AI-enabled work and wellbeing). The Centre is led by Director Prof. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, with senior research fellows including Prof. Andrew Oswald, Lord Richard Layard, and Prof. John Helliwell.

The Centre operates on a non-commercial academic funding model. Revenue comes from research grants (e.g., the $10M S&P Global Foundation grant), institutional support from the University of Oxford, industry-funded fellowships (e.g., Unilever), and strategic partnerships. All research outputs are distributed open access to maximize policy and public impact. It serves four primary segments: governments and policymakers (wellbeing metrics for policy design), businesses and employers (evidence for workplace wellbeing programmes), educational institutions (student wellbeing frameworks), and academic researchers (datasets, methods, and collaboration).

Name

Wellbeing Research Centre

Legal name

Wellbeing Research Centre

Website

https://wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford conducts interdisciplinary research on wellbeing and publishes the annual World Happiness Report. It partners with Gallup, the UN SDSN, S&P Global, and the International Baccalaureate to inform government, education, and business policy worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Wellbeing Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Wellbeing research
• Happiness research
• Social science research
• Policy research
• Academic publications

Headquarters

HQ city

Oxford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Academic Funding: The Centre operates as an academic research unit within the University of Oxford, funded through research grants, academic partnerships, and institutional support. Key collaborations include funding from organizations such as S&P Global's StepForward initiative ($10 million three-year program).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Wellbeing Research Centre is an interdisciplinary academic research centre at the University of Oxford that produces the annual World Happiness Report (ranking 140+ countries in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network), the UK Wellbeing Report, peer-reviewed working papers, and applied research on the science of wellbeing, happiness, and policy. It distributes findings to governments, businesses, educators, and academic researchers worldwide to inform evidence-based policy and practice.

Product overview

The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford is a research organization that produces the World Happiness Report (annual global happiness rankings published in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network), the UK Wellbeing Report (annual analysis of wellbeing across UK areas), and contributes to the World Wellbeing Movement. The Centre also publishes working papers, research publications, and hosts seminars on wellbeing science topics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• World Happiness Report Annual publication ranking 140+ countries by happiness levels, produced by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Used by governments, policymakers, businesses, and researchers worldwide to inform evidence-based policy and benchmarking.
• UK Wellbeing Report Annual report analyzing wellbeing trends across UK areas using Annual Population Survey data, examining life satisfaction and the share of people with low and high wellbeing. Targeted at UK policymakers, regional authorities, and wellbeing researchers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Finland ranked world's happiest country for 9 consecutive years (2026 report)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• S&P GlobalmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2026Strategic collaboration to study AI-enabled work and its impact on wellbeing. Part of S&P Global's three-year $10 million StepForward initiative. Funding also supports an academic prize for outstanding research in AI, wellbeing, and the future of work. Researchers focus on how technological developments change the job market and identify skills needed to thrive in the AI era.
• GallupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership for the annual World Happiness Report. Gallup provides the globally representative survey data from the Gallup World Poll covering 140+ countries, which forms the empirical foundation for happiness rankings and wellbeing research published in the annual report.
• UN Sustainable Development Solutions NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-publishing partner for the World Happiness Report. The UN SDSN provides institutional support and connection to global development policy frameworks, helping translate wellbeing research into sustainable development policy recommendations.
• World Wellbeing MovementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Wellbeing Research Centre is a founding member and lead academic partner of the World Wellbeing Movement. WWM is a coalition of global leaders from business, civil society, and academia working to put wellbeing at the heart of decision-making in business and public policy. The WWM publishes annual UK Wellbeing Reports.
• International BaccalaureatemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to redesign International Baccalaureate's approach to pupil wellbeing for 1.2 million students globally. Represents major education sector impact through evidence-based wellbeing frameworks for secondary education.
• Harris Manchester College, University of OxfordcoreOthersThe Centre is housed at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, providing institutional affiliation, facilities, and academic infrastructure for research operations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• RAND Corporation: Non-profit global policy research institute producing independent, evidence-based research across health, wellbeing, education and economics. Closely comparable to the Centre in mission (research-for-policy impact), cross-disciplinary methodology, and reliance on government and foundation funding rather than commercial revenue.
• New Economics Foundation: UK-based think tank focused on wellbeing economics, the National Accounts of Wellbeing, and Doughnut Economics frameworks. Comparable as a research-driven organization producing wellbeing indicators and policy recommendations in the UK and internationally.
• Resolution Foundation: UK think tank researching living standards and wellbeing, with an explicit focus on how economic outcomes translate into life satisfaction and mental health. Comparable in producing evidence-based policy research on the determinants of national and individual wellbeing in the UK context.
• London School of Economics: LSE hosts the Centre for Well-Being, Public Policy and Public Preferences and produces substantial research on the economics of wellbeing. Comparable as an academic institution generating wellbeing economics research with strong policy ties, and a partner of the Centre.
• OECD Better Life Initiative: OECD's Better Life Index is the most direct alternative to the World Happiness Report, ranking countries on 11 wellbeing dimensions across OECD members and partners using harmonized survey data. Directly comparable in producing a global cross-national wellbeing ranking aimed at policymakers.
• What Works Wellbeing: UK research centre synthesizing evidence on what improves wellbeing, with a similar academic-and-policy dissemination model. Directly comparable in focus (wellbeing evidence), structure (university-affiliated research centre), and output (reports and practitioner guidance).
• Brookings Institution: US-based public policy research organization producing influential reports on economic wellbeing, social policy, and quality-of-life issues. Comparable in producing peer-influenced, evidence-based policy research frequently cited by governments and media worldwide.

Emerging players

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Leading academic public-health institution with active population-health and wellbeing research programs and overlapping faculty networks with the Centre. Comparable in publishing wellbeing and population-health evidence in top-tier journals and advising governments, though not a dedicated wellbeing research centre.

Broad incumbents

• Gallup: Gallup is both the Centre's core data partner (Gallup World Poll) and an independent publisher of wellbeing research (Gallup World Poll, State of the World's Children reports, CliftonStrengths). Comparable in producing globally comparable wellbeing datasets, but operates at much greater scale across many research verticals.
• McKinsey Health Institute: Established within McKinsey to research population and workplace health/wellbeing, producing major reports on employee mental health and societal wellbeing. Comparable as a major producer of workplace-wellbeing evidence but with much broader commercial reach and resources.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/OxWellResearch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCyLX68N7HRlTrhUrV98_VOQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wellbeing-research-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wellbeing Research Centre