Finland was named the world’s happiest country for the seventh year in a row while India was ranked 126th out of the 143 countries in the World Happiness Report 2024 released on Wednesday (March 20) by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The report measures happiness based on GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and low corruption.
The annual report was released on March 20, which is celebrated as International Day of Happiness and the report is based on global survey data from people in 143 countries.
India ranked 126, the same as last year, in the happiness index. However, it still remains below neighbouring countries like China (60), Nepal (93), Pakistan (108), Sri Lanka (128) and Bangladesh (129).
Out of the 143 countries surveyed, Afghanistan remained at the bottom of the list, facing ongoing humanitarian crises since the Taliban regained power in 2020.
According to the World Happiness Report 2023, the Top 20 Happiest Countries are:
- Finlamd (7.741)
- Denmark (7.583)
- Iceland (7.525)
- Sweden (7.344)
- Israel (7.341)
- Netherlands (7.319)
- Norway (7.302)
- Luxembourg (7.122)
- Switzerland (7.060)
- Australia (7.057)
- India (4.054)
Countries rankings this year are based on life evaluations from 2021-2023.
Meanwhile, for the first time, since the report was published more than a decade ago, the United States and Germany did not find a place among the list of 20 happiest countries. The US was ranked 23rd, while Germany was ranked 24th.
Countries such as Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 list with Costa Rica securing the 12th and Kuwait securing 13th rank.
Ukraine’s rank has declined from 92nd last year to 105th in this year’s report.
According to Jennifer De Paola, a happiness researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland, the Finnish people’s strong bond with nature and well-maintained work-life balance significantly influence their life satisfaction.