UN World Happiness Index: India at 144 rank, Pakistan 66, Finland tops again

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New Delhi: The United Nations (UN) on Firday released its World Happiness Report and India was at a dismal 144 rank of a total 156 nations surveyed. India has been scored at 3.573 points nestled between Lesotho and Malawi nations. Pakistan, on the other hand, has been ranked 66 with a score of 5.693.

On top of the charts is Finland rated as high as 7.809 points for the third consecutive year with Denmark (7.646) and Switzerland (7.560) at the no 2 and 3 spots, respectively. Followed by Iceland (7.504) and Norway (7.488), completing the top five positions in the ranking.

The data used to compile this ranking was collected in the years 2018 and 2019. For the report, researchers asked people to evaluate their own levels of happiness, and took into account measures such as GDP, social support, personal freedom and levels of corruption to give their own nation a happiness score.

One of the authors of the report John Helliwell in a statement said, "The happiest countries are those 'where people feel a sense of belonging', where they trust and enjoy each other and their shared institutions. There is also more resilience, because shared trust reduces the burden of hardships, and thereby lessens the inequality of well-being."

However, the impact of the lockdowns imposed by several contries due to the impact of coronavirus outbreak has not been taken into account. The author of the report predicts that the lockdown conditions imposed on residents could, paradoxically, boost happiness in future. 

"The most frequent explanation seems to be that people are pleasantly surprised by the willingness of their neighbours and their institutions to work in harness to help each other," the team said on the report's website.