World Happiness Index 2023: India among the unhappiest countries in the world despite fastest economic growth and better living conditions

By: Yash Gupte

A country like Pakistan which is undergoing massive inflation, political uncertainty, economic volatility, and civil war like conditions has been ranked much above India. This makes us to think that is the index really fair?

It has been over ten years since the first World Happiness Report was published. Also, it has been precisely ten years since the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 66/281 designating March 20 as the International Day of Happiness. Since then, more and more people have come to believe that our success as countries should be judged by the happiness of our people. But looking at India’s position on the World Happiness Index 2023, one question which comes to our mind is that though more and more people agree with the above statement, is the judging system fair enough? India has been ranked at the 126^th position in the World Happiness Index 2023 much below than its neighbours- Sri Lanka and Pakistan. A country like Pakistan which is undergoing massive inflation, political uncertainty, economic volatility, and civil war like conditions has been ranked much above India. This makes us to think that is the index really fair?

Despite having the world’s fastest-growing economy, India’s ranking in the report has consistently been low, leading some to question how it can be ranked lower than countries in turmoil. Russia and Ukraine are both ranked higher than India in the Global Happiness Report despite their current conflict, with Russia coming in at number 70 and Ukraine at number 92. According to the analysis, benevolence climbed in both nations in 2020 and 2021, but in 2022, it sharply increased in Ukraine while declining in Russia. Afghanistan is the least happy nation out of the 137 examined in the World Happiness Report. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Lebanon were all mentioned in the survey as being among the least happy nations, largely due to factors such as high levels of corruption and low life expectancy.

While India's ranking has risen from 136 to 125, it is still below than its neighbours, including Bangladesh, China, and Nepal. India has routinely ranked low on the index despite having the world's fastest-growing economy, and some have even questioned how it is possible for India to be put below nations that are experiencing crises.

For the sixth consecutive year, Finland has remained as the happiest country in the world. The next-happiest nations are Denmark, Iceland, Israel, and the Netherlands, with Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and Luxembourg making up the top 10. The Gallup World Poll's primary life evaluation survey, which gauges how happy people feel about their lives, provided the data that formed the basis of the rankings.

Source: World Happiness Report

India’s rank on the World Happiness Index has been consistently low since the report was first published in 2012. India was ranked the worst in the pandemic year 2020 at the 144^th position and on the other hand it was ranked the best in 2013 at the 111^th position. The chart shows that India’s rank on the index has been improving in recent years. From 144^th in 2020 to 139^th in 2021 and 126^th 2023, India has been ranking better on the index but much lower and unhappy than its crisis hit neighbours like Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Sri Lanka.

In the post-Covid age, in addition to the agony of losing our loved ones, many nations are struggling economically, and worldwide inflation rates are at historically high levels. But the difficulty did not prevent folks from smiling and according to the report “life evaluations have continued to be remarkably resilient, with global averages in the COVID-19 years 2020-2022 just as high as those in the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019."

Based on the opinions of a nationally representative sample of people regarding their levels of happiness in contemporary life, the report speaks for the happiness levels of various nations. The studies use a variety of metrics, including both domestic and global factors, to determine overall happiness. India's score in the report, despite improving, is still relatively low, and several of its minor neighbours are placed higher. The annual report released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) overviews the level of satisfaction among citizens of different countries across the globe.