HELSINKI: Pakistan is a relatively happier country than India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, according to an annual UN-sponsored World Happiness Report.
The report reaffirms Finland’s position as the world’s happiest country for the seventh consecutive year, with Afghanistan ranking as the least happy. The Nordic countries, including Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden, continue to maintain their positions among the top 10 cheerful nations.
Afghanistan, grappling with a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban’s resurgence in 2020, remains at the bottom of the list among the 143 countries surveyed. Significantly, for the first time in over a decade, the United States and Germany are excluded from the top 20 happiest nations, securing 23rd and 24th positions respectively. In contrast, Costa Rica and Kuwait enter the top 20 at 12th and 13th positions.
The report highlights a notable shift, with none of the world’s largest countries being among the happiest. Only the Netherlands and Australia, within the top 10 countries, have populations exceeding 15 million. Similarly, within the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations surpassing 30 million.
The sharpest declines in happiness since 2006-10 are observed in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Jordan, while Eastern European countries like Serbia, Bulgaria, and Latvia report significant increases.
The happiness ranking is determined based on individuals’ self-assessed evaluations of life satisfaction, along with factors such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption.
Jennifer De Paola, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, attributes Finns’ high life satisfaction to their close connection to nature and balanced work-life dynamics. She notes that Finns may have a more realistic understanding of success compared to countries like the United States, where success is often equated with financial prosperity.
Additionally, Finland’s robust welfare system, trust in governance, low corruption levels, and accessible healthcare and education play pivotal roles in societal contentment.
The report also reveals that younger generations are generally happier than older ones across most regions globally, except in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, where happiness among youth has declined since 2006-10.
However, happiness inequality has escalated in every region except Europe, which the authors deem a worrying trend, particularly evident among the elderly and in Sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting disparities in income, education, healthcare, and social support.
In the happiness ranking list, Iran ranks 100, Pakistan 108, Nepal 93, India 126, Sri Lanka 128, Bangladesh 129, and Afghanistan at the bottom with a rank of 143.
The ten happiest countries include Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia.
