Sri Lanka ranks low in World Happiness Report 2022

Sri Lanka has ranked 127th place in the World Happiness Report 2022 out of 146 countries, while Finland secured the top spot for the fifth consecutive year.

The index, sponsored by the United Nations, was released two days before the International Day of Happiness on March 20.

Denmark bagged second place while Iceland claimed the third, moving up from fourth place last year.

Switzerland, at number four, is followed by the Netherlands and Luxembourg, respectively. Sweden, Norway, Israel, and New Zealand form the remainder of the top 10.

The United States climbed three places to 16th, one ahead of Britain. Canada has fallen 10 spots to 15th this year.

Meanwhile, India fell far behind its neighbouring countries in the index, at 136th place. Pakistan and Bangladesh secured 121st and 94th spots, respectively.

Warring neighbours Russia and Ukraine have been ranked 80 and 98 respectively. The rankings of the report, however, were compiled before Russia launched the invasion in Ukraine.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report, which is issued annually by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The report ranks 150 countries (146 in 2022).

The index is calculated using people’s self-reported happiness as well as economic and social data and, based on a three-year average, assigns a happiness score in the range 0 to 10.

This year, it also used data from social media to compare people’s emotions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors found “strong increases in anxiety and sadness” in 18 countries but a fall in feelings of anger.

-with inputs from agencies