Categories: News

India ranks 139, Finland tops the World Happiness Report 2021

Representative Image

NEW DELHI: The World Happiness Report 2021 was published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) on Friday, March 19, 2021. Although India displayed a slight improvement in the ranking, it is a part of the 10 lowest ranking countries in the Happiness Index, ranking at 139 out of 149 countries assessed. Of the top ten countries in the index, nine were from the continent of Europe. Finland, securing the first rank, was followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Austria.

The World Happiness Reports evaluates levels of happiness among citizens from different countries by taking into account factors such as Gross Domestic Product, social support, personal freedom, and levels of corruption in each nation. This year, however, authors from UNSDSN addressed a new issue during the analysis for the report — the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on nations around the world. As a new addition, this year’s report provided two different sets of rankings — one list was based on the average of three years of surveys taken between 2018 and 2020 by Gallup, while another focused solely on the year 2020 to understand how COVID impacted subjective well-being.

Jeffrey Sachs, one of the authors of the report, said that the World Happiness Report 2021 reminds everyone that the world must focus on wellbeing rather than mere wealth, which will be fleeting indeed if the governments don’t do a much better job of addressing the challenges of sustainable development. According to the authors of the Index, trust was the key factor used to measure happiness in each country; nations where citizens had more faith vested in its institutions and had greater income equality were considered to be more successful in combating the pandemic.

Team Urban Update

Recent Posts

Gadkari: EV prices to match petrol, diesel cars in two years

Representative Image NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Government of India,…

3 months ago

14 lakh homes built in Gujarat under PMAY scheme

Representative Image GANDHINAGAR, Gujarat: Gujarat has reached a significant milestone in the construction of homes…

3 months ago

MBMC launches ‘Central School Control Room’ for students’ safety

Representative Image THANE, Maharashtra: The Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) in Maharashtra has established a…

3 months ago

Delhi govt extends ban on sale, production of firecrackers till Jan 2025

Representative Image NEW DELHI: With the aim to tackle the increasing air pollution level in…

3 months ago

UPSIDA takes over maintenance of 34 industrial areas from ULBs

Representative Image LUCKNOW, Uttar Pradesh: The Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) has come…

3 months ago

Delhi Jal Board to team up with WATCO for 24/7 water supply

Representative Image NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) plans to collaborate with the Water…

3 months ago