UN World Happiness Index 2016 released: Denmark tops list, India ranks low at 118th

New Delhi, Mar 16: Denmark has now been rated as the world's happiest place in the country to live while Burundi, one of the world's poorest nations, is listed at bottom of happy index.

India did not make any improvement in its happiness quotient, ranking 118th out of 156 countries in a global list of the happiest nations, down one slot from last year on the index and coming behind China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The rating has been given in a report, prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

The report takes into account GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices as indicators of happiness.

Switzerland was ranked second on the list, followed by Iceland (3), Norway (4) and Finland (5). India ranked 118th, down from 117th in 2015.

The report said that India was among the group of 10 countries witnessing the largest happiness declines along with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Botswana.

India comes below nations like Somalia (76), China (83), Pakistan (92), Iran (105), Palestinian Territories (108) and Bangladesh (110). India had ranked 111th in 2013.

The report 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 has been placed at 13, the United Kingdom stands at 23, France and Italy stand at 32 and 50 respectively.

The report, released in advance of UN World Happiness Day on March 20. This year, for the first time, the World Happiness Report gives a special role to the measurement and consequences of inequality in the distribution of well-being among countries and regions.

The first World Happiness Report was published in April 2012, in support of the High Level Meeting at the United Nations on happiness and well-being.

OneIndia News