World Happiness Report 2024

• India was ranked 126th out of 143 nations in a global happiness index released recently, which noted that older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in the world’s most populous country.

KEY-FINDINGS OF THE REPORT

• Finland with a score of 741, remained the world’s happiest country for a seventh straight year.
• The other top 10 countries are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.
• Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, stayed at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed.
• The ranking is based on six factors—
  • GDP per capita
  • Social Support
  • Healthy life expectancy
  • Freedom
  • Generosity
  • Freedom of corruption
• Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has been released annually around March 20th as part of the International Day of Happiness
• The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS NETWORK

• The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has been operating since 2012 under the UN Secretary-General.
• SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.