Bangladesh among top 20 ‘unhappiest countries in the world’

Bangladesh has ranked among the top 20 unhappiest countries in the world, in the World Happiness Report 2023.

War-torn Afghanistan ranked as the unhappiest country in the world. Lebanon, which is facing a dire economic crisis, ranked second among unhappiest countries.

India is also seemingly “unhappier” compared to Bangladesh – ranking 12th in the depressing list.

The report – overseen by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network – is released every year on the occasion of International Day of Happiness, being celebrated today (March 20), according to Forbes Magazine.

The countries are ranked based on statistics from sources such as the Gallup World Poll, which takes into account six main factors: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and the absence of corruption, it said.

According to the report, these countries also have an average life evaluation that is more than five points lower (on a scale running from 0 to 10) than in the 10 happiest countries.

20 UNHAPPIEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

1. Afghanistan
2. Lebanon
3. Sierra Leone
4. Zimbabwe
5. Congo
6. Botswana
7. Malawi
8. Comoros
9. Tanzania
10. Zambia
11. Madagascar
12. India
13. Liberia
14. Ethiopia
15. Jordan
16. Togo
17. Egypt
18. Mali
19. Gambia
20. Bangladesh

The United Nations General Assembly designated March 20 as International Day of Happiness in 2012. Since then, an increasing number of individuals have come to feel that success as countries should be measured by the happiness of citizens. There is also emerging agreement on how to quantify happiness. Because of this agreement, governments may now make national happiness an operational goal, the report said.

The Nordic nations deserve special attention with Finland topping the list of the “happiest countries” in the world due to their usually high levels of both personal and institutional trust, the report said. “They also had Covid-19 mortality rates that were one-third those of the rest of Western Europe in 2020 and 2021 – 27 per 100,000 in the Nordic nations vs 80 in the rest of Western Europe.”

The other top happiest countries followed by Finland are: Denmark, Iceland, Israel and the Netherlands, said the report.

20 HAPPIEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Canada
14. Ireland
15. United States
16. Germany
17. Belgium
18. Czech Republic
19. United Kingdom
20. Lithuania