India ranks 126th in World Happiness survey, Finland happiest country for sixth year in a row
text_fields
Finland was named the happiest country in the world for the sixth consecutive year in World Happiness Report released on Monday by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
India was placed at 126th position out of the 137 countries on the list, ranking even below Pakistan, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan was placed at the 137th position.
The report based on global survey data from people in 137 countries, measures happiness based on GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and low corruption.
According to the report, the country rankings this year are based on life evaluations in 2020, 2021, and 2022, with the data drawn from the period of high infection and deaths from Covid-19.
The annual report was released on March 20, which is celebrated as International Day of Happiness.
The UN-sponsored index also saw an "extraordinary rise in fellow feeling across Ukraine" according to Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an editor of the report, despite a “magnitude of suffering and damage” across the country since the 2022 Russian invasion.
Last year "benevolence grew sharply in Ukraine but fell in Russia," the report found, referring to acts like helping strangers or making donations.
While war-torn Ukraine’s ranking improved from 98 to 92, Russia was placed at 72nd position.
The report also cited a "much stronger sense of common purpose, benevolence and trust in Ukrainian leadership" than after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Characterised by thousands of lakes and near endless forests, Finland is known for its extensive welfare system, high trust in authorities and low levels of inequality among its 5.5 million inhabitants.
Northern Europe once again dominated the top spots with Denmark ranking second, followed by Iceland. Israel occupied the fourth position.
While the same countries typically top the list each year, Baltic countries are rising rapidly towards Western European levels, the authors said.
Lithuania became the only new country in the top 20 with Estonia in at number 31.
War-scarred Afghanistan and Lebanon were listed as the two unhappiest countries in the survey.
Afghanistan which has occupied the bottom spot on the table since 2020, saw its humanitarian crisis deepen since the Taliban government took power in 2021.
