New Delhi: India was ranked 126th out of 143 nations in the World Happiness Report 2024, a global happiness index which was released on Wednesday, March 20 to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.
India is behind Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Palestine and Niger, according to the report by a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board, the PTI reported.
For the seventh successive year, Finland topped the list of the happiest countries in the world. The other countries in the top ten were Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia. Afghanistan was at the bottom of the list.
PTI quoted from the report that older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in India, “refuting some claims that the positive association between age and life satisfaction only exists in high-income nations”.
Older men in India are more satisfied with life than older women on an average, as per the report, “but when taking all other measures into account, older women report higher life satisfaction than their male counterparts.”
The study also revealed that older adults In India with secondary or higher education and those of higher social castes reported higher life satisfaction compared to those without formal education and those from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
“India’s older population is the second largest worldwide, with 140 million Indians aged 60 and over, second only to its 250 million Chinese counterparts. Additionally, the average growth rate for Indians aged 60 and above is three times higher than the overall population growth rate of the country,” the report mentioned, as per the PTI.
The report added: “We found that older men, those in the higher age groups, currently married, and those who were educated, report higher life satisfaction compared to their respective peers. Lower satisfaction with living arrangements, perceived discrimination, and poor self-rated health were important factors associated with low life satisfaction among older Indians.”
