The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network has released the World Ha
ppiness Report 2021 and Pakistan has been ranked
at 105 out of 149 countries in the list.
Finland has been ranked as the world’s happiest country for the fourth consecutive year followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Norway.
Pakistan has been ranked happier than India (139). Bangladesh is on 101st and China on 84th, according to the report. People in war-ravaged Afghanistan are the most unhappy, followed by Zimbabwe (148), Rwanda (147), Botswana (146) and Lesotho (145).
The United States (US) is on 19th for ha
ppiness despite being one of the richest countries in the world.
The World Ha
ppiness Report is a survey of the state of global ha
ppiness that ranks 149 countries by how happy their citizens think themselves to be. The countries are ranked on the basis of questions from the Gallup World Poll. The results are then correlated with other factors, including GDP and social security.
Meanwhile, according to a report by money website Expensivity, money can’t buy ha
ppiness, as the saying goes, but varying levels of income can lead to positive well-being depending on the cost of living and where you live in the world.
The global average of the price of ha
ppiness is $85,000 a year, according to Expensiv
ity, which calculated the cost of ha
ppiness for 160 countries by combining data from Purdue University’s Ha
ppiness, income satiation and turning points around the world report, purchasing power ratios from the World Bank and cost-of-living figures in cities.
The cost of ha
ppiness in South-East Asia is below the global average of $85,00
0 in every country, ranging from $15,643 in Pakistan to $46,078 in Singapore. Ha
ppiness in India costs $20,235 a year, while in China, it is much higher at $70,848.
The Purdue University study, which is based on data from the Gallup World Poll of 1.7 million people, found that there is an ideal level of money that could make a person happy – and it varies around the world.
Meanwhile, other countries where ha
ppiness comes at a high price include Australia at $135,321, Israel ($130,457) and Switzerland ($128,969), where the cost of living is considered high, the Expensivity report said. In the US, a yearly income of $105,000 is sufficient to be happy.
In the Gulf, Qatar has the highest ha
ppiness price tag at $75,936, followed by Kuwait at $71,537 and the UAE with $70,771 p
er annum. Ha
ppiness is more affordable in Oman at $61,021, Bahrain ($56,901) and Saudi Arabia ($54,263), according to Expensivity.
However, the report found that ha
ppiness is less expensive in Eastern Europe. In Ukraine, the point at which more money no longer brings more ha
ppiness occurs at $11,301 – the lowest for any country in Europe, Expensivity said.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the maximum level of ha
ppiness occurs at just $40,000 on average.
Among global cities, the price of ha
ppiness is highest in New York City at $139,183. Outside the US, the city with the highest price of ha
ppiness is Bern, Switzerland, at $128,969, while Oslo has a ha
ppiness price tag of $114,147 followed by London with $110,000.