Key Points
- India’s Progress: India improves its rank from 126th to 118th in the World Happiness Report 2025 but remains behind neighbors like Nepal (92nd) and Pakistan (109th).
- Global Leaders: Finland retains its position as the happiest country for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden.
- Focus on Benevolence: The report highlights the impact of caring and sharing, emphasizing acts like donating, volunteering, and helping strangers.
- Regional Insights: Afghanistan remains the unhappiest country at 147th, while China drops to 68th from last year’s 60th.
New Delhi: India has climbed eight spots to rank 118th in the World Happiness Report 2025, released on March 20 to coincide with the International Day of Happiness. Despite this improvement from last year’s 126th position, India still trails behind neighboring countries like Nepal (92nd) and Pakistan (109th), while Afghanistan once again ranks as the unhappiest country globally at 147th.
Global Rankings
Finland continues its reign as the happiest nation for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. The Nordic countries dominate the top spots due to their strong social support systems, low corruption levels, and high trust among citizens. Meanwhile, Western nations like Costa Rica (6th) and Mexico (10th) also entered the top ten rankings this year.
The United States saw a decline in happiness levels, dropping to its lowest-ever position at 24th due to increasing loneliness and social isolation. Similarly, China fell to 68th from last year’s rank of 60.
India’s Performance
While India ranked 118th overall in life evaluations based on metrics like GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption, it performed notably well in specific benevolence measures:
- Donating: Ranked 57th globally.
- Volunteering: Ranked an impressive 10th.
- Helping Strangers: Positioned at 74th.
- Returning Wallets: Ranked lowerm 115th for neighbors returning wallets, 86th for strangers, and 93rd for police.
India’s community-focused culture and tradition of large family structures contributed positively to social support measures. However, perceptions of limited freedom and corruption continue to weigh down its overall happiness score.
Regional Comparisons
In South Asia:
- Nepal improved slightly from last year’s rank of 93 to 92.
- Pakistan rose one spot from 108 to 109.
- Sri Lanka (133rd) and Bangladesh (134th) lagged behind India.
Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the rankings due to worsening living conditions for women amid ongoing conflict.
Insights on Happiness
This year’s report emphasizes “caring and sharing” as key drivers of happiness. Findings reveal that acts like sharing meals significantly boost well-being across cultures. Countries with higher rates of meal-sharing report stronger social bonds and reduced loneliness. Conversely, increased dining alone in nations like the United States correlates with declining happiness levels.
The report also highlights that people tend to underestimate community kindness. Experiments showed that lost wallets are returned far more often than expected—a phenomenon linked closely with greater happiness.
Historical Context
The World Happiness Report originated in Bhutan’s push for Gross National Happiness as a development metric. Since its first publication in 2012, the report has grown into a global benchmark for measuring well-being across nations.
