Happiness index calls for a close look

Going by the rankings in the World Happiness Report 2023, the happiest people on earth live in its coldest regions and the least happy ones in the hotter climes. There is no doubt that climate change, which happens everywhere, diminishes the happiness of all people, but the happiness report is not from the International Panel on Climate Change. Prepared by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, it does not make any geographical or climatological linkage for happiness, but the index moves down from the polar north to the tropical south as it tracks happiness among countries. It cannot be said to have any partisan motives, but the findings demand some cold scrutiny.

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The report ranks Finland as the happiest country and Afghanistan as the least happy. Finland has occupied the position for the sixth year in a row. Most of the top positions go to Scandinavian countries. India is ranked low at 125 out of 136 nations.

It is not unlikely that its happiness level will fall further when it is known that Pakistan, with all its troubles, is over 30 ranks above it in happiness. That is because there is considerable evidence in daily life to show that a lot of happiness depends on the neighbour’s happiness. In any case, why are we not happy when we now have a ‘golden era’ in the country’s history? Even Ukraine is much happier. There is something wrong with the world’s happiness map.

The ranking uses six key factors to measure happiness —real GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. But happiness is difficult to measure, and very often it is difficult to define as a quality or attribute of mind. It is also true that one person’s happiness is not another’s and cultural and social factors influence it. Internal surveys done in Nordic countries have shown that many people in those countries are ‘’struggling or even suffering when they evaluate their own lives.’’ Such studies have called for ‘’a nuanced picture of happiness.’’ It is also strange that there are increasing problems related to mental health and rising use of antidepressants in these countries. Happiness and antidepressants do not go together. So the rankings may not tell the real story of happiness in the world. But the report should prompt countries to promote the factors on which it says happiness is based. As for happiness, it is more than the sum of these factors both at national and individual levels.