pakistan surpasses india in latest un happiness report
Published on: March 21, 2024.
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Pakistan has maintained its rank of 108th, while India remained at the 126th spot in the annual United Nations-sponsored World Happiness Report. The report revealed that Finland remains the happiest country for the seventh consecutive year, with Nordic countries also ranking among the top 10. Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia also claimed spots in the top 10. Afghanistan, which has faced numerous challenges since the Taliban regained control in 2020, ranked at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed. The United States and Germany, traditionally among the top 20, ranked 23rd and 24th respectively. Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 for the first time at 12th and 13th respectively.
The report emphasized that none of the world’s largest countries were included among the happiest countries. One interesting observation in the report was that the Netherlands and Australia were the only countries in the top 10 with populations over 15 million. Additionally, only Canada and the UK had populations over 30 million in the top 20. The report also highlighted the sharpest decline in happiness in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Jordan, while Eastern European countries like Serbia, Bulgaria, and Latvia reported the largest increases.
The ranking is based on individuals’ self-assessed evaluations of life satisfaction, as well as factors such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption. This year, the report also included a separate list of countries based on age. Lithuania ranked first in happiness among those under 30, while Pakistan ranked 107th, India 127th, and Bangladesh 128th. Denmark ranked first among those aged 60 and above, with Pakistan at 112th, India at 121st, and Bangladesh at 120th.
The report also highlighted the growing inequality in happiness across different regions. Finland’s close connection to nature, healthy work-life balance, strong welfare society, trust in state authorities, low corruption levels, and access to free healthcare and education were some of the contributing factors to its high ranking. Younger generations were found to be happier than their older peers in most regions, except for North America, Australia, and New Zealand, where happiness among the younger generation has dropped since 2006-10.
Overall, the report identified increasing happiness inequality as a worrying trend, with inequalities in income, education, healthcare, social acceptance, trust, and supportive social environments contributing to the disparities.
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