The World Happiness Report for 2024 was released earlier this week.
Finland remained at the top for the 7th time in a row.
Bangladesh has been ranked 129th.
The top 10 countries remained unchanged.
The United States and Germany fell in ranking, making way for several Eastern European countries 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 among top five in ranking.
Afghanistan has been ranked as the least happy country, after Congo, Sierra Leone, Lesotho and Lebanon, according to the report published in different international media.
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 20th, Germany at 24th and France at 27th. 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, Pakistan at 108, Myanmar at 118, Sri Lanka at 128 and Bangladesh at 129th spot.
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.
While ranking happiness in young people (aged 30 and below), Lithuania, Israel, Serbia, Iceland and Denmark ranked in top five slots, with Finland being relegated to the seventh rank. India ranked at 127th.
However, when it came to ranking happiness in old people (aged 60 and above), Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland - all Nordic countries - ranked at the top, with India occupying the 121st spot. "Countries ranking highest for the old are generally countries with high overall rankings, but include several where the young have recently fared very poorly," the report observed.
The World Happiness 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 are: Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.
The top 10 happiness rankings in Asia are: Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Mongolia.
