India fails to improve its happiness quotient

  • India did not make any improvement in its happiness quotient, ranking 118th out of 156 countries, down one slot from 2015 and behind China (83), Pakistan (92) and Bangladesh (110)
  • The report said India was among the group of 10 nations witnessing the largest happiness declines along with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Botswana
Denmark world’s happiest nation, India ranked 118th

Rome, March 16

Denmark overtook Switzerland as the world’s happiest place, as per a report that urged nations regardless of wealth to tackle inequality and the environment. India is at 118th rank. 

The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least-happy places on earth to live. The top 10 this year are Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.

Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland.The bottom 10 are Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi. The US stands at number 13, the UK at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50.“There is a very strong message for my country, the US, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier,” said

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, head of the SDSN and special adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.While the differences between countries where people are happy and those where they are not could be scientifically measured, “we can understand why and do something about it,” Sachs said.

 

“The message for the US is clear. For a society that just chases money, we are chasing the wrong things. Our social fabric is deteriorating, social trust is deteriorating, faith in government is deteriorating,” he said.Aiming to “survey the scientific underpinnings of measuring and understanding subjective well-being,” the report, now in its fourth edition, ranks 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and healthy years of life expectancy.It also rates “having someone to count on in times of trouble” and freedom from corruption in government and business. — Reuters