Finland yet again becomes world’s happiest country, check where India stands

Who wouldn’t want to live in the ‘world’s happiest country’ Finland, right? After all, the country has been repeatedly dubbed the best when it comes to living standards.

According to ‘World Happiness Report 2022’, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country, in an annual UN-sponsored index that again ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, followed closely by Lebanon. Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania recorded the biggest boosts in the well-being index.

Russia and Ukraine, currently at war with each other, have been ranked 80 and 98 respectively. The World Happiness Report 2022 rankings were compiled much before the Russian invasion of Ukraine which began on February 24.

10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report, which uses global survey data to report how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries worldwide. The World Happiness Report 2022 reveals a bright light in dark times.

Tools for evaluating global happiness

The World Happiness Report ranks countries based on several factors such as real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

The World Happiness Index is based on two key ideas – happiness or life evaluation measured through opinion surveys and identifying key elements that determine well-being and life evaluation across countries.

India ranked in World Happiness Report over the years

The Happiness Index of the World Happiness Report (WHR) indicates that India’s rank has deteriorated over the years. In the 2022 World Happiness Report, India ranked 136th among 146 countries, while in 2021, it had ranked 139th among 149 countries. In 2020, India’s rank was 144th, while in 2019, India was ranked 140th. In the 2018 report, it ranked 133rd and in 2017, it ranked 122nd. India was ranked 118th and 117th out of 157 and 158 countries respectively in the 2016 and 2015 reports.