A food street in Lahore, Photo: FaizanM41 via Wikimedia Commons
Happiness, as a state of mind and heart, may be difficult to define in absolute terms but Pakistan is definitely making rapid strides up a UN index of happiness.
The annually released World Happiness Report takes into account a range of factors from social and economic indicators to a people’s trust in their future while assessing a people’s state of happiness.
Jumping 12 notches above its 2016 rankings, Pakistan is now the happiest South Asian nation on the world body’s index, as more Pakistanis are now hopeful of a brighter future than were previously.
In determining the level of happiness of a people the UN report also includes prospects related to income, spending, health, housing and trust.
Apparently, hopes for Pakistan’s rise among its people may spring from recent progress the country has made from years of terrorism challenges to rapid completion of infrastructure and power generation projects, and continuation of democracy.
However, compared with some of the happiest nations, Pakistan fares far behind in some of the key indicators for millions of its people. But the country does well with comparable populations and in the context of its geographical location.
The World Happiness Report 2017 places India 32 places behind Pakistan despite a constant of news about its economic progress.
With a score of 5.269, Pakistan is placed 80th out of the 155 countries, improving its last year standing from 92nd position with a score of 5.132.
Noori performing at the launch of HBL Always On, Dolmen City Mall, Karachi.
Photo by Arshmaan Alee via Wikimedia Commons
India is ranked at a low 122, four spots below its last year rank of 118 while Afghanistan – torn by the Taliban insurgency and political infighting in Kabul – is placed at 141st number on the index that has been released on the International Day of Happiness.
Other South Asian nations also figure quite down the latter, with Nepal at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110 while Sri Lanka featured at 120.
Some of the world’s happiest nations are in Europe, with Norway, Denmark and Iceland being top three, followed by Switzerland, Finland and Netherlands. Canada, New Zealand, Austria and Sweden are among top ten happiest countries.
The United States is placed at the 14th place while China is ranked 79th, one spot above Pakistan.
Among the saddest countries are conflict-hit or famine-stricken states including Yemen, South Sudan, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda Syria and Central African Republic.
