India among the 'unhappiest' countries in the world, reveals World Happiness report
2 min read 20 Mar 2023, 06:05 PM ISTIndia's rank on the World Happiness Report has improved but still remains lower than small Asian neighbors
PremiumOn 20th March every year, the world celebrates World Happiness Day and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network releases an annual report named World Happiness Report. The reports measure global happiness on several standards which include national and international aspects. Despite improvement in India's ranking in the report is still very low and many small neighbors of India are ranked above.
The report speaks for countries' level of happiness based on the responses of a nationally representative sample of people about the levels of satisfaction in life these days.
Happiness in a post-Covid world?
In a post-Covid world, apart from the pain of losing our close ones, several countries are reeling under economic pressures and global inflation levels are also at historically high levels. But, the ordeal and not stopped people to smile and according to the report “life evaluations have continued to be remarkably resilient, with global averages in the COVID-19 years 2020-2022 just as high as those in the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019."
So, which countries are most happy?
Finland tops the ranking for the sixth year in a row with a score of 7.8 and other Norwegian countries like Denmark, Iceland are ranked second and third. In the list of top 10, other countries are Israel, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.
The countries are ranked on the basis of healthy life expectancy, GDP per capita, social support, low corruption, generosity in a community where people look after each other, and freedom to make key life decisions.
Most unhappy countries of the world?
Out of the 137 countries, Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has ranked last and is most unhappy according to the report. Other regions at the bottom of the list include Lebanon, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, etc. The report adds that these countries have high-level of corruption and low life expectancy.
India's position in the World Happiness Report?
India's rank has certainly improved from 136 to 125 but the country still ranks below its neighbors like Nepal, China, Bangladesh, etc. Despite being the fastest-growing economy in the world, India has consistently ranked low in the index and several people have even raised questions on how India can rank lower than countries in crises.
How Russia and Ukraine are ranked?
For more than a year now, Russia and Ukraine are fighting each other but when it comes to happiness, the countries are ranked above India, i.e. 70th Russia and 92nd Ukraine. According to the report, both countries have seen increased benevolence during 2020 and 2021. During 2022, benevolence grew sharply in Ukraine but fell in Russia.
"This year’s report features many interesting insights, but one that I find particularly interesting and heartening has to do with pro-sociality. For a second year, we see that various forms of everyday kindness, such as helping a stranger, donating to charity, and volunteering, are above pre-pandemic levels," said Lara Aknin, one of the co-authors of the report.
