India unhappier than Pakistan, Iran, Ukraine as Finland tops World Happiness Report 2025

India has ranked 118th out of 147 countries in the World Happiness Report 2025, released by the United Nations on the International Day of Happiness. While India has improved from its 126th position in 2024, it still lags behind Pakistan, Iran, Ukraine, and several conflict-affected nations. Finland, for the eighth consecutive year, has been named the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark and Iceland.

The Happiness Index is based on factors such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. India's happiness score increased to 4.389, but the report highlights corruption perception and lack of generosity as major factors dragging down the country’s ranking. The report also emphasizes that social connections, benevolence, and optimism significantly contribute to happiness, areas where India continues to struggle.

Interestingly, the report states that countries like Ukraine, Mozambique, Iraq, Palestine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—some of which have been facing war, political instability, or economic turmoil—ranked higher than India. Last year, Pakistan ranked 108th, while Nepal and Myanmar also scored better than India. However, India did perform better than Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

The study also examined the quality of life evaluations among different age groups. According to the 2024 report, Indians aged 30-44 were the least happy, experiencing a drop of 1.124 points from 2006 to 2023. However, Indians under 30 reported higher happiness levels, with an average score of 4.281 from 2021-23. Social factors such as lack of support, household size, and perception of kindness played a key role in determining individual happiness.

The benevolence factor, which measures acts of kindness like donating, volunteering, and helping strangers, also influenced India's ranking. India stood 57th in donating, 10th in volunteering, and 74th in helping strangers. However, it ranked poorly in the wallet return index, with 115th for neighbors, 86th for strangers, and 93rd for police officers returning lost wallets. In contrast, Nordic countries topped the list in both actual and expected acts of benevolence.

The report also discussed deaths of despair, including suicide, alcohol abuse, and drug overdoses, as indicators of extreme unhappiness. However, it noted that India’s mortality data is considered unreliable, as less than 5% of deaths are officially recorded. Despite some improvements in India’s ranking, the country still struggles with social support, corruption perception, and mental well-being, making it one of the least happy major economies in the world.