World Happiness Report 2022: India ranks below Pakistan, Finland happiest for fifth year in a row

India has ranked at 136 in the annual UN-sponsored happiness index, ranking even below Pakistan, which is at the 121 spot.

The happiest country is Finland (for the fifth time in a row). It was followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, The Netherlands and other European nations. Countries like Israel (rank 9) and France (rank 20) went up the ladder, recording their best performance in the index yet. The US ranked at number 16, while the UK ranked 17.

This year, data from social media was also analysed to understand behaviour of the citizens of various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was noticed that during the pandemic feelings of anxiety and depression were on the rise while feeling of anger subsided. This table was completed before Russia's invasion of Ukraine and shows that Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria have done quite well in terms of well being while Afghanistan and Lebanon and Venezuela have faced the largest fall.

The countries that performed the worst in the index were Afghanistan (rank 146), Lebanon (rank 145), and Venezuela (rank 144).

Co-author of the annual UN-sponsored Happiness Index, Jeffrey Sachs as saying, “The lesson of the World Happiness Report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another and honesty in government are crucial for wellbeing. World leaders should take heed.”

Finns were not surprised at ranking number 1 on the index which takes into consideration the GDP, social and economic conditions, personal freedom level, and data from social media behaviour of the countries.