World Happiness Report 2021: India ranks 139th among 149 countries
India has been ranked 139th out of 149 countries in the list of UN World Happiness Report 2021 released on Friday which is topped by Finland. The World Happiness Report 2021, issued by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, focuses on the effects of COVID-19 and how people all over the world have fared. Here's more.
Effects of COVID-19 and how governments handled it were evaluated
The report ranks countries based on how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The aim was two-fold, first to focus on the effects of COVID-19 on the structure and quality of people's lives, and second to describe and evaluate how governments all over the world have dealt with the pandemic. It tried to explain why some countries have done much better than others.
India was ranked 140th in 2019
Notably, in 2019, India was ranked 140th. "There have been both in-person and telephone samples for India, with the in-person responses being lower than telephone responses, while significantly higher than in-person responses in 2019," a statement said. "Hence the reversal in 2020 of the longer-term slide in Indian life evaluations was not attributable to mode effects," it further stated.
Finland topped the list, Afghanistan placed at the bottom
Finland has been ranked as the happiest country. The Nordic nation is followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and Norway. Pakistan is on 105th, Bangladesh on 101st, and China on 84th. People in war-torn Afghanistan are the most unhappy, followed by Zimbabwe (148), Rwanda (147), Botswana (146), and Lesotho (145).
Gallup World Poll results were correlated with other factors
The United States is placed on the 19th spot for happiness, despite being one of the richest countries in the world. The happiness study ranks the countries of the world on the basis of questions from the Gallup World Poll. The results are then correlated with other factors, including GDP and social security.
