India is increasingly becoming unhappy, according to the latest edition of the annual World Happiness Report. The following are some salient points from the report.
1. India has continued its dip in the rankings, down seven points from last year to be 140th overall now.
2. The report ranks 159 countries in order of how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The happiness index takes into account income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.
3. The report was released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations on March 20, which the UN General Assembly declared as World Happiness Day in 2012.
4. Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world for the second year in succession. It is is followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Netherlands.
5. According to the report, overall world happiness has fallen in the past few years, mostly fuelled by a sustained drop in India, which fell to 140th place this year from 133rd place in 2018.
6. The report has tagged India along with countries such as Yemen, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela, which witnessed the sharpest drop since 2005.
7. The United States ranks at 19th place for happiness, despite being one of the richest countries in the world.
8. Pakistan is ranked 67th, Bangladesh 125th and China 93rd, according to the report.
9. People in war-torn South Sudan are the most unhappy with their lives, followed by Central African Republic (155), Afghanistan (154), Tanzania (153) and Rwanda (152).
10. The report said 25.9 per cent of Indians had donated money to charity in the past month. In contrast, 72.8 per cent in Thailand made donations to charity, placing it at the top of the list.
