Why India Ranks Below Palestine & Ukraine? 2025 World Happiness Report:

Introduction

By Harsh Raj

Hello my dear friends I’m Harsh Raj, and recently, a lot of people have been asking me about something that’s become a yearly ritual—the United Nations’ World Happiness Report. Every year, this index seems to tell Indians that Pakistanis are happier than us. No one quite understands the logic—not Pakistanis, not us, not anyone. But this time, the 2025 World Happiness Report has thrown up some truly surprising details that deserve a closer look.

Shocking Rankings from the World Happiness Report

This year’s report doesn’t just say India is less happy than Pakistan. It goes further:

• Ukraine, a country currently facing unimaginable turmoil, is ranked happier than India.
• Palestine, including Gaza—where Israel recently conducted bombings and Donald Trump has plans to take over—is apparently happier than India.
• Venezuela, a nation that’s battled sky-high inflation and internal struggles for years, is also listed as happier than India.

In the World Happiness Index, India sits at a dismal 118th rank, trailing behind:

• Iran (99th)
• Palestine (108th)
• Ukraine (111th)
• Pakistan
• Even Iraq

Meanwhile, countries like Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands dominate the top five. The United States doesn’t even crack the top 20, ranked below Canada and even Lithuania—a country with its own history of conflict near Russia. Israel, despite facing missile threats, ranks at 8th.

This has led many in India to publish articles with a satirical twist: “Chaos is the key to happiness.” The idea being that maybe when everything around you is unpredictable—when you don’t even know if your country will function properly—that’s when people find happiness. Of course, this is partly tongue-in-cheek, but it raises real questions about these rankings.

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Why Are People Questioning the Rankings?

People are genuinely asking: On what criteria is Palestine, a region in crisis, ranked happier than India? To understand this, we need to look at how happiness is measured. There are two prominent happiness indices:

1. World Happiness Index (United Nations)

• Created by: United Nations, Oxford University (UK), and Gallup (USA).
• Methodology: Surveys citizens on factors like GDP per capita, social support, generosity, and freedom.
• Sample Size: Around 1,000 people per country annually, contacted via telephone or face-to-face (totaling over 140,000 across 140+ countries).
• India’s Rank: 118th, below Palestine, Ukraine, and Pakistan.
• Criticism: With India’s massive and diverse population, how can 1,000 responses represent 1.4 billion people? GDP per capita drags India down (141st globally), but Pakistan’s is worse (159th), yet they rank higher in happiness.

2. Ipsos Global Happiness Survey

• Created by: Ipsos, a multinational company based in France.
• Methodology: Surveys focus on life satisfaction, community support, and happiness without factoring in GDP per capita.
• Sample Size: Larger and more detailed—e.g., 2,200 individuals in India (1,800 face-to-face, 400 online), covering urban/rural and rich/poor demographics.
• India’s Rank: Among the happiest countries, often 1st or 2nd (e.g., 84% happy in 2023, behind China’s 91%).
• Released: March 2025 data shows India topping the “very happy” list, followed by the Netherlands and Mexico. Unhappiest? Turkey, South Korea, and Hungary.

A Tale of Two Surveys: Why Such a Contrast?

The UN’s World Happiness Index paints India as sadder than war-torn Gaza, while Ipsos declares India one of the happiest nations. What’s going on?

• UN Index: Focuses heavily on measurable metrics like GDP per capita, which hurts India despite its economic growth. Its small sample size (1,000 per country) raises doubts about accuracy.
• *Ipsos Survey: Ignores GDP, prioritizes subjective happiness, and uses a bigger, broader sample. Critics argue it might overstate happiness in places like India and China (where the government promoted Ipsos’ 2023 results via *Global Times).

The truth?

As with 90% of cases, it’s probably somewhere in the middle. The UN might be showing India as too sad, while Ipsos might be overly optimistic.

Dig Deeper: Don’t Trust Headlines Alone

Here’s my advice: Don’t just read headlines or reports and call it a day. Research the details:

• What’s the sample size?
• Who were the people surveyed?
• What criteria were used?
• Are there other indices to compare?

In today’s world, understanding the full picture is crucial—headlines alone won’t cut it.

A Quick Quiz for You

Let’s end with a question: Which country’s army recently seized its own capital’s presidential palace? This nation, with its capital Khartoum in the news, has been making headlines. Your options:

• Chad
• Sudan
• Libya
• Zimbabwe

Drop your answer in the comments!

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading. Keep researching, keep learning, and never suppress your curiosity. Stay tuned for more updates on the Pacific Sphere and beyond!