The World Happiness Report for 2024 was released earlier this week, noting that while the top 10 countries in the list have remained the same since before the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States and Germany have fallen in the rankings, making way for several Eastern European nations to rise on the list.
As expected, Finland topped the list for the seventh year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Israel too made it to the top five of the ranking. Meanwhile, Afghanistan was deemed as the least happy country, after Congo, Sierra Leone, Lesotho and Lebanon.
The United States fell in ranking from 16th spot last year to the 23rd spot this year. This year, Canada took the 15th spot while the UK was at the 20, Germany at 24 and France at 27. Among Middle Eastern nations, the UAE was ranked at 22 and Saudi Arabia at 28. Among Asian nations, Singapore was at 30, Japan at 50 and South Korea at 51.
India ranked 126th while China ranked 60th, Nepal at 93, Myanmar at 118, Sri Lanka at 128 and Bangladesh at 129th spots.
The report observed that in India, older age is associated with higher life satisfaction. However, older Indian women reported lower life
satisfaction than older men, it added. Education and caste played key roles, with older adults with secondary or higher education and those of higher social castes reporting higher life satisfaction than their counterparts without formal education and those from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, it said.
Worldwide, women were less happy than men in every region, with the gender gap widening as they aged, said the report.
is published annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and takes into account six variables — GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. It is supported by taking the average life evaluation data gathered by the Gallup polls for the 2021-23 period.
The top 10 happiness rankings (worldwide):
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- Australia
The top 10 happiness rankings (Asia):
- Singapore
- Taiwan
- Japan
- South Korea
- Philippines
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- China
- Mongolia
