Pakistan ranked 108th on the World Happiness Report, according to the annual UN-sponsored report. The report highlighted that the youth in Pakistan are the happiest demographic group, while older individuals are the least happy. Pakistan surpassed India in the happiness index, with India ranking 126th, the same as last year. Afghanistan was at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed.
Finland retained its position as the world’s happiest country for the seventh consecutive year. Countries like Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden followed Finland in the top 10 happiest countries.
For the first time in over a decade, the United States and Germany were not among the top 20 happiest nations, ranking 23rd and 24th respectively. Instead, Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 at 12th and 13th positions.
The report noted that in the top 10 happiest countries, only the Netherlands and Australia have populations exceeding 15 million. Among the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations over 30 million. The happiness scores were significantly lower among the younger population in the United States and Canada compared to older individuals. Australia and New Zealand also experienced lower rankings among the youth, albeit to a lesser extent.
Happiness rankings are based on individuals’ self-assessments of life satisfaction, along with factors like GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption.
