India ranks 122nd in World Happiness Report, behind its neighbours Pakistan and China

[Haarkarjeetgaye]

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-iraq-pakistan-bangladesh-are-happier-countries-than-india/20170321.htm

 

It’s not such happy news for India!

The nation ranks a lowly 122 on a list of the world’s happiest countries, dropping four slots from last year and coming behind China, Pakistan and Nepal.

Norway ranks as the happiest country in the world, according to The World Happiness Report 2017 (external link), which ranks 155 countries by their happiness levels.

Norway jumped three spots from last year, displacing Denmark, which had held the top spot for three out of the past four years.

India comes in on the 122nd spot, down from 118 in the 2013-2015 report, which maps happiness on the parameters of GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

Nations such as China at 79, Pakistan at 80, Nepal at 99, Bangladesh at 110, Iraq at 117 and Sri Lanka ranked at 120 fared better than India on the ranking.

IMAGE: This year, the report ranked Norway as the happiest country in the world. This shows that despite the recent decline in oil prices, happiness depends on much more than income. Photograph: Petr Josek/Reuters

The World Happiness Report continues to draw global attention around the need to create sound policy for what matters most to people -- their well-being,” said Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network that produced the report.

“As demonstrated by many countries, this report gives evidence that happiness is a result of creating strong social foundations. It’s time to build social trust and healthy lives, not guns or walls. Let’s hold our leaders to this fact,” he said.

Rounding out the rest of the top ten in order were Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. The US ranked 14th, dropping down one spot from last year, the report said.

 

IMAGE: The report, in its fifth year, continues to draw global attention around the need to create sound policy for what matters most to people -- their well-being. Photograph: Antonio Bronic/Reuters

Despite recent declines in oil prices, oil-rich Norway still moved into the top spot, illustrating once more that high happiness depends on much more than income, it said.

This year the report gives special attention to the social foundations of happiness, including happiness at workplace.

“People tend to spend the majority of their lives working, so it is important to understand the role that employment and unemployment play in shaping happiness,” said Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve of the University of Oxford.

He said research reveals that happiness differs considerably across employment status, job type, and industry sectors.

“People in well paid roles are happier, but money is only one predictive measure of happiness. Work-life balance, job variety and the level of autonomy are other significant drivers,” De Neve said.

The report also highlights personal factors affecting happiness, saying “in rich countries the biggest single cause of misery is mental illness.”

The World Happiness Report 2017 looks at trends in the data recording how highly people evaluate their lives on a scale running from 0 to 10. The rankings, which are based on surveys in 155 countries covering the three years 2014-2016, reveal an average score of 5.3 (out of 10). 

Top 10 happiest countries in the world

1) Norway 
2) Denmark 
3) Iceland 
4) Switzerland 
5) Finland 
6) Netherlands 
7) Canada 
8) New Zealand 
9) Australia 
10) Sweden

---

10 least happiest countries
1) Central African Republic
2) Burundi
3) Tanzania
4) Syria
5) Rwanda
6) Togo
7) Guinea
8) Liberia
9) South Sudan
10) Yemen

Yoshita Singh

[chewy]

This is a subjective matter and anyways so many of these surveys going around

 

i have seen other surveys where countries like Vanuatu or Costa Rica have come up tops along with many other developing countries

[randomGuy]

I thing India has a long way to go. The ranking show that perhaps a few countries like Pak (which are behind India in most parameters) have set a lower benchmark for themselves. But when people of any country say they are happy (even due to lower benchmarks), I feel happy for them. 

 

[beetle]

I thought Bhutan was the happiest.What made them less happy?awwww........

 

Hamara kya hai....pichla match jeet jaate to list mein aage aa jaate.....

Edited March 21, 2017 by beetle

[veer]

2 hours ago, beetle said:

I thought Bhutan was the happiest.What made them less happy?awwww........

 

Hamara kya hai....pichla match jeet jaate to list mein aage aa jaate.....

lol.. Survey unlogo ne haari hui match k baad kiya hoga..

[Sajid_Rana]

The report is right. Muslims and women are much happy and safer in Pakistam than In India.

[Muloghonto]

6 minutes ago, Sajid_Rana said:

The report is right. Muslims and women are much happy and safer in Pakistam than In India.

 

Thats why most Pakistani-Canadian women tell you insecure Pakistani-Canadian men to go shove it and expose you for little weak men that you are.

 

[Laaloo]

1 hour ago, Sajid_Rana said:

The report is right. Muslims and women are much happy and safer in Pakistam than In India.

Muslims and Women?

[Adi_91]

8 hours ago, laaloo said:

Muslims and Women?

Maybe they differentiate between the two in their country. 

[surajmal]

Biased sample. Probably largely sickular, so its understandable. 

[kosingh]

On 3/21/2017 at 7:38 PM, Sajid_Rana said:

The report is right. Muslims and women are much happy and safer in Pakistam than In India.

For a woman to be killed by own father/brother because she had a boyfriend is nothing to boast about your country's safety for women.

[Gollum]

Good. We should always aim high. We shouldn't get content with 35/100 . Rather aim for 90/100 and get sad after falling short by 30.

[speedheat]

Well judges must have seen India's sas bahu daily soap drama to rank india so low

[The Dark Horse]

I think it's largely because of the career oriented outlook of most of us. In general we tend to work more, even at the cost of personal life. Not to mention the government policies and the macro factors.