India is one of the unhappiest countries, says World Happiness Report

The reports aim is to encourage governments to measure and improve their people's happiness.

GN Bureau | April 24, 2015


#World Happiness Report   #India   #Switzerland   #Canada   #Netherlands   #Sweden   #New Zealand   #Australia  

India is one of the unhappiest countries in the world. It ranks 117 out of the 158 countries in the third World Happiness Report. 

People who live in the happiest countries have longer life expectancies and more social support, experience more generosity, have more freedom to make life choices, have lower perceptions of corruption and have a higher gross domestic product per capita, the report shows.

The World Happiness Report 2015, released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations on Friday,  considers six variables—per capita gross domestic product (GDP), healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity and the absence of corruption—to reach the score given on a scale 0 to 10, where 0 represents the worst possible life.

The top country in the list is Switzerland with a score of 7.587; India is at 4.565. March 20 is declared as World Happiness Day. It was Bhutans’s prime minister, who proposed the idea of a World Happiness Day to the United Nations in 2011.

Through the happiness report, the network hopes to encourage governments at every level to measure and improve their people's happiness.

"There is no single key to happiness," said Jeffrey Sachs, the network's director and an economics professor at Columbia University. "All of these countries do well in several ways. Being rich? That's good, but it's only a modest part of the story. Trusting society, having a government that ranks on low in corruption, a society where people are generous and volunteering -- all of these are important for happiness."

About 80% in younger age groups feel happy and women enjoy themselves more when they are below the age of 40.

Women have higher life evaluations than men in five of the eight global regions, including South Asia, but the freedom to make life choices for them is the lowest in South Asia.

Reported anger is significantly higher in the Middle East and North Africa at about 35%. The next highest incidence of anger is in South Asia, at an average rate of about 25% for both men and women.

The top 10 happiest places on Earth: 1 Switzerland, 2 Iceland, 3 Denmark, 4 Norway, 5 Canada, 6 Finland, 7 Netherlands (Holland), 8 Sweden, 9 New Zealand and 10 Australia.

Read Full Report: click here

Comments

 

Other News

How to leverage AI to solve urgent global issues

The world seems to be hurling towards World War III in all the possible scenarios: hot war, cold war, and proxy war. The battleground seems to have expanded beyond physical to digital or virtual/mixed reality with technology like drones. Moreover, the line between civilian and military targets seems to hav

Budget: Progress towards SDGs and areas for improvement

The Union Budget 2025-26 outlines India`s vision for economic and social growth while also reflecting the country`s commitment to sustainable development. As India moves closer to the 2030 deadline for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this budget presents a balanced approach

Repo rate cut by 25 basis points to 6.25%

The Reserve Bank of India has, for the first time in five years, reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.25% with immediate effect. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate will stand adjusted to 6.00% and the marginal

Amitav Ghosh’s new work: Connections between the word and the world

Wild Fictions: Essays By Amitav Ghosh HarperCollins, 496 pages, Rs 799.00 Amitav Ghosh, one of a handful of Ind

How markets can help (and also hinder) fight against pollution

In the annals of environmental policy, few ideas have been as transformative as the Emissions Trading System (ETS). Born from the minds of economists in the late 1960s, this market-based approach to pollution control has evolved from a theoretical concept to a global tool in the fight against climate chang

Will Bihar complement the resolution of Viksit Bharat 2047?

As India completes its diamond jubilee as a republic, I am reminded of a statement by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, delivered during an address to the Bihar Chamber of Commerce in Patna on March 28, 2006. He said, “I have visited Bihar numerous times, and it has always been a source of happiness for me to

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now



Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter