Denmark overtook Switzerland as the world’s happiest place, meanwhile Pakistan is considerably happier than Indian and even Bangladesh, according to a report that urged nations regardless of wealth to tackle inequality and protect the environment.
Pakistan ranks 92 on the index much better than India at 118 and Bangladesh at 110.
Details of the report puts India in the group of 10 countries witnessing the largest happiness declines along with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Botswana.
The report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, showed Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries as the 10 least happy places on earth to live.
The top 10 this year were Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year, behind Switzerland and Iceland.
The bottom 10 were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi.
The United States came in at 13, the United Kingdom at 23, France at 32, and Italy at 50.
Aiming to “survey the scientific underpinnings of measuring and understanding subjective well-being,” the report, now in its fourth edition, ranks 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and healthy years of life expectancy.
It also rates “having someone to count on in times of trouble” and freedom from corruption in government and business.
The report was released in advance of UN World Happiness Day on March 20.
