{"id":45449,"date":"2025-03-21T10:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T05:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45449"},"modified":"2025-05-06T20:20:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T14:50:18","slug":"world-happiness-report-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/world-happiness-report-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"World Happiness Report 2025 &#8211; India\u2019s Happiness Ranking Improves but Still Trails Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>World Happiness Report 2025 Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Methodology of the World Happiness Report<\/li>\n<li>World Happiness Report 2025 FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>World Happiness Report 2025 Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The World Happiness Report 2025, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the <strong>University of Oxford<\/strong>, ranks <strong>Finland <\/strong>as the happiest country for the<strong> eighth consecutive year<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It highlights <strong>an improvement in India\u2019s happiness score and ranking<\/strong> over the past three years. However, despite its economic and governance advantages, India continues to lag behind Pakistan in overall happiness rankings.<\/li>\n<li>The rankings are based on Gallup surveys and the <strong>UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Methodology of the World Happiness Report<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Life evaluations: <\/strong>Based on responses from the Gallup World Poll, where people rate their life on a 0-10 scale using the Cantril Ladder method.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Three-year average: <\/strong>The 2025 rankings are based on data collected from 2022 to 2024.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key indicators considered: <\/strong>While the rankings are not based on an index, <strong>six primary factors <\/strong>influence happiness scores:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>GDP per capita<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Healthy life expectancy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Social support<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Perceived freedom to make life choices<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Generosity<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Perception of corruption<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Key Highlights of the World Happiness Report 2025<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Top-ranked countries:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nordic dominance: <\/strong>Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden occupy the top four positions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New entrants in top 10:<\/strong> Costa Rica (6th) and Mexico (10th) made it to the top ten for the first time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Israel (8th):<\/strong> Despite the ongoing war with Hamas, Israel secured a high position in the rankings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Determinants of happiness:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Beyond <strong>economic growth, trust, social connections, and support networks<\/strong> play a crucial role in happiness.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Household size:<\/strong> In Mexico and Europe, families with four to five members report the highest happiness levels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Belief in kindness:<\/strong> Trust in strangers returning a lost wallet strongly correlates with national happiness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Declining happiness in the west:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>United States (24th):<\/strong> Dropped from 11th (2012) due to increased <strong>isolation<\/strong>, with a 53% rise in people dining alone over two decades.<\/li>\n<li><strong>United Kingdom (23rd): <\/strong>Lowest happiness level since 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Least happy countries:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Afghanistan:<\/strong> Continues to be the unhappiest, with Afghan women facing extreme hardship.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sierra Leone and Lebanon<\/strong> ranked second and third lowest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Global social support decline:<\/strong> 19% of young adults reported having no one to rely on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>India\u2019s Ranking and Performance<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/image5_30f57dc50f.webp\" alt=\"image5.webp\" \/><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Improved ranking: <\/strong>India moved up from 126th (out of 143 countries last year) to <strong>118th <\/strong>(out of 147 countries).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Score increase: <\/strong>India\u2019s happiness score rose from 4.054 to 4.389 (on a scale of 10).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sub-indicators:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>57th for donations.<\/li>\n<li>10th for volunteering.<\/li>\n<li>74th for helping a stranger.<\/li>\n<li>Wallet return probability: 115th (by neighbor), 86th (by stranger), 93rd (by police).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Comparison with neighbors: <\/strong>India ranked <strong>below Nepal, Pakistan (109th), Ukraine, and Palestine<\/strong> in overall happiness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Discrepancies in India\u2019s Ranking<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lower ranking than Pakistan:<\/strong> Despite India\u2019s superior economic and governance indicators, it ranks lower than Pakistan in happiness.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Economic strength:<\/strong> India\u2019s per capita income ($2,480.8 in 2023) is significantly higher than Pakistan\u2019s ($1,365.3).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Health indicators:<\/strong> India\u2019s healthy life expectancy (58.1 years in 2021) is slightly better than Pakistan\u2019s (56.9 years).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Corruption perception:<\/strong> India ranked 96th in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2024, much better than Pakistan (135th).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>India\u2019s improvement in happiness ranking signals progress, but the <strong>methodology of the report raises concerns<\/strong> as it does not fully account for economic strength, health, and governance.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The rankings suggest that <strong>social factors, trust, and well-being perceptions<\/strong> play a larger role in determining happiness than material prosperity alone.<\/li>\n<li>According to Gallup CEO (Jon Clifton), <strong>happiness isn&#8217;t just about wealth or growth<\/strong> &#8211; it&#8217;s about trust, connection, and knowing people have your back. <strong>Investing in one another is essential <\/strong>if we want stronger economies and communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>World Happiness Report 2025 FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1. <\/strong>What is the basis of the World Happiness Report rankings, and which organization publishes it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, ranks countries based on life evaluations collected through the Gallup World Poll using the Cantril Ladder method.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2. <\/strong>How has India\u2019s ranking changed in the World Happiness Report 2025 compared to previous years?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> India\u2019s ranking improved from 126th (out of 143 countries) to 118th (out of 147 countries), with its happiness score increasing from 4.054 to 4.389 between 2021-23 and 2022-24.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3. <\/strong>Despite economic challenges, why does Pakistan rank higher than India in happiness?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> This is due to factors like social support, perceived freedom, and community trust, despite having lower GDP per capita, lower healthy life expectancy, and higher corruption perception.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4. <\/strong>What are the six key factors considered in explaining differences in happiness scores among countries?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The six key factors are GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, perceived freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perception of corruption.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5. <\/strong>What are some criticisms regarding the methodology of the World Happiness Report?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The rankings are questioned as they do not directly use economic and governance indicators like GDP per capita, corruption perception, or life expectancy, making social perceptions a dominant factor.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/rest-of-world\/finland-crowned-happiest-country-again-india-is-118th-up-from-126th\/articleshowprint\/119270533.cms?val=3728\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ToI<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/world\/finland-tops-world-happiness-rankings-india-below-pakistan-9896137\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/india-news\/indians-are-smiling-a-little-wider-than-before-world-happiness-report-125032000886_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">BS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World Happiness Report 2025 highlights an improvement in India\u2019s happiness score and ranking, however, it continues to lag behind Pakistan in overall happiness rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}