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We all have heard of World Happiness Index. We have heard about it because this index gives India a very low rating. People in India who believe in this rating ironically do not believe in ratings that show India in good light. On the other hand, there are people who wonder how India can be ranked so low when we see countries that appear in far more distress than India ranked higher than India.

There are not too many people who actually buckle down and try to go to the details of this world Happiness Index. Not even the media who report on this topic. I have been thinking of going to the depth of this World Happiness Index for quite some time but I was not able to find time. You see, people like me who are inherently happy most of the time cannot be easily persuaded to waste time analysing an Index that accuses you of belonging to a country whose population is unhappy. 🙂

Nevertheless, someone had to do the painful job of analysing this world Happiness Index. No one in India is seemingly interested so I have volunteered and I have done it. In this post, I will give my findings on this index.

World Happiness Index is published by “The Sustainable Development Solutions Network” of the UN. They release their annual report on 20 march which has been declared as International Day of Happiness.

The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 66/281 of 12 July 2012 proclaimed 20 March as the International Day of Happiness recognizing the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives.

The meeting was convened at an initiative of Bhutan, a country which recognized the supremacy of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product.

World Happiness Index is compiled considering six characteristics to rank countries on overall happiness: GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make choices, generosity, and perception of corruption.

Let us discuss these factors in detail.

Following two factors (out of six) can be considered Objective factors:-

I thought that it was not possible to bungle in the above factors because figures for them are available on reputed sites. For example, GDP per capita is available on sites like World Bank, IMF etc. Likewise figures of Life expectancy are available on WHO site.

I notice that the country with the lowest GDP per capita in the Happiness chart is Venuzuela ! It defies logic. Venezuela per capita GDP is $ 7260 on PPP basis and $3460 on Nominal GDP basis in 2022. There are at least 50 countries behind Venezuela on GDP per capita basis. Such glaring error casts severe doubts on the authenticity of Happiness Index, at least for Venezuelans, if not for others. Had Venezuela’s rank been correct on GDP per capita basis, they would have ended up in top 30, instead of ending up at 89^th position in the latest Happiness Index, (all other things remaining same).

I hope healthy life expectancy figures do not contain any such glaring errors.

The highest figure theoretically achievable for the above two factors is 2.200 + 0.702= 2.902. The lowest figure theoretically possible is 0.00. The actual highest achieved figures is 2.383 by Taiwan followed by USA of 2.370. So these two countries are the happiest if only GDP per capita and life expectancy rankings are considered. The actual lowest figures achieved on these two factors is 0.341 by Venezuela and 0.570 by Mozambique.
As discussed above, the faulty ranking of Venezuela in GDP per capita means that they end up at the very bottom when we add up its marks for the two factors.

As for India, India will be in 101^th position with 1.411 marks. Pakistan with 1.238 will be at 109^th position. Nepal 107^th with 1.260. Bangladesh 97^th with 1.487 marks. Sri Lanka 68^th with 1.847 marks.

Now we come to the subjective factors. Unlike figures of GDP per capita and life expectancy which are collected and maintained by reputed world bodies with considerable experience and expertise, no well defined and accepted standards exist to measure the four subjective factors that form such a large part of World Happiness Index. Following are the four subjective factors that are considered while measuring happiness :-

How were these figures arrived at ? Based on Gallup world polls (GWP). What are Gallup polls? Gallup is an organisation that supposedly approaches a few people and ask them simple YES/ NO questions. Based on the reply, the countries’ Social Support, Freedom to make choices, generosity and perception of corruption are measured and entire country gets branded. It is basically the opinion of the people polled. We know that opinions are not facts, but this World Happiness Index tries to pass off opinion of a few people as facts about a country.

Let us see what questions are asked. Under social support, the question anked is “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?”. The national average of the binary responses (0=no, 1=yes) to the Gallup World Poll (GWP) question is taken. In “social support”, India ranked an abysmal 121^st, but Pakistan and Bangladesh were even behind India as 123 and 132. Perhaps all these people are watchers of sad Hindi movies where society does not support the love birds. 🙂 I was under the impression that Asian countries with better social and family ties offer way more support to an individual in need than in Western countries where these ties are quite weak. Nevertheless, what people say in this poll matters in the happiness ranking, not the reality.

Under generosity, the question asked was -“Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?”. If the ansewr is yes, then the people of that counry are considered generous other wise they are branded as misers. The fact that there are ways of being generous other than by donating money, such as helping out by devoting time and effort, feeding hungry people free of cost etc does not count towards generosity as far as this happiness index “generosity” factor is concerned. When we look at the chart, we find that Nepal (one of the least developed countries in the world) which even today is getting loan from IMF is ranked at number 26 in Generosity. They consider themselves far more generous than G-7 countries with money like Germany (57), France (113), Japan(135) etc even though Nepal does not lend any money to any other country. All they had to do was just to reply YES to the relevant generosity related poll and they leapfrogged most of the actually generous countries of the world. Likwise Pakistan (ranked 65) is considered more generous than China (88). 🙂 And we thought otherwise. 🙂

Freedom to make life choices is the national average of binary responses to the GWP question “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?” Reply to this question throws up some hilarious rankings. Nepalese, who have hardly any options to chose from, feel that they have full freedom to make their life choices. So much so that they get a rank of 63 which is higher than USA (70) and Japan (71).

Perceptions of corruption are the average of binary answers to two GWP questions: “Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not?” and “Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?”. Where data for government corruption are missing, the perception of business corruption is used as the overall corruption-perception measure. Perception of corruption polls are no less amusing. Myanmar is ranked 33 which is higher than the ranking of USA (38). Even Bangladesh at 40 considers itself less corrupt than South Korea (41), Israel (44), Spain (45) etc. In Indian sub continent, Sri Lankans consider themselves more corrupt than their other south Asian neighbours.

Theoretically the highest scoring country can score the maximum of 3.375 in the four factors (viz. 1.620 + 0.772 + 0.422+ 0.561= 3.375). The highest figure actually achieved under these categories is 3.018 by Finland followed by 3.016 by Denmark.
Likewise the worst scoring country can score a low figure of 0.000 + 0.000 +0.000 + 0.000=0.000. In reality the lowest scoring country in these categories is Afghanistan at 0.152 followed by Lebanon at 0.687.

When we combine the marks of two objective categories with the marks obtained in the four subjective categories then we get overall points under the six catogories. According to that, Singapore emerges first with 5.52 points, Denmark comes at number 2 with 5.503, Sweden is third at 5.492 , Norway is fourth at 5.486, Finland is fifth at 5.441, Israel 23^rd at 4.782, USA is 25^th at 4.769.

Among Indian subcontinent countries, Sri Lanka is 73^rd with 3.817, Nepal at 96^th with 3.173, India 101^st with 3.057,Bangladesh 106^th with 2.922, Pakistan is 114^th with 2.649.

I can see vehement protests coming from some quarters because the World Happiness ranking shows India behind all its neigbours in general, and behind Pakistan and Bangladesh in particular.

I am going to explain how India fell behind Pakistan, Bangladesh etc despite outscoring them in the six categories. India was put behind Pakistan and Bangladesh by shifting the goalpost. Yes, those who create this world Happiness Index have kept a trick up their sleeve which they use to manipulate the ranking arbitrary at their whim and fancy. To achieve this manipulation, they have introduced another category called Dystopia + residual.

“Dystopia” is a hypothetical nation that scores the lowest under all categories. Dystopia represents the lowest national averages for each of the six key variables and is, along with residual error, used as a regression benchmark.

From the earlier discussion we have seen that “Dystopia” nation would achieve a score of 0.000 under the six categories. The country that comes the closest to Dystopia in our ranking seen so far is Afghanistan that scores 0.883. Next country after Afghanistan is Comoros with 1.847.

From the above explanation of Dystopia, one would assume that countries that score high marks (and are thus far away from the hypothetical country of Dystopia would have similar marks under the heading of Dystopia + residual. Likewise countries that score poorly under the six factors and are thus closer to Dystopia would be expected to score similar marks under the heading of Dystopia + residual. Not by a long shot ! We cannot be more wrong !

We find that countries that score very high under the six headings and countries that score abysmally can have similar scores under the heading of Dystopia + residual. On the other hand Countries that have similar scores under the six categories can have vastly different scores under the category of Dystopia + residual. In fact, countries that were way behind after adding up their marks under the six categories were made to leapfrog other nations rather unfairly and arbitrarily.

Here are some examples to show the arbitrariness of all this:-

Singapore that stood first in ranking when the scores of six categories were counted was given a score of only 1.067 in the category of Dystopia + residual. Denmark was given 2.084, Sweden 1.903, Norway 1.829 and Finland 2.423.

When this dystopia + Residual category figures were added to the sum total total of the six categories, Finland became the number one nation, whereas Singapore, for no fault of theirs was relegated from number one position down to 26^th position. Israel, who were on a lowly 23^rd position, jumped up to 4^th because they were given a whopping 2.691 under the category of Dystopia + residual.

Let us see the above discussion in tabular form:

We have heard that Finland was number one in the happiness ranking for the fifth year in a row. How creditable, we are told. Now we know how they are achieving their number one ranking year after year. It is by using corrupt means. It has been done by awarding them very high marks and awarding the actual winner very low marks on the artificially and fraudulently created category of dystopia + Residual.

Let us now come to the changes in ranking of Indian subcontinent nations before and after Dystopia + residual marks.

We observe that Sri Lanka was 73^rd and India was 101^st in the happiness index. But those who publish the list had other ideas. They awarded low marks to India and Sri Lanka and such high marks to Pakistan and Bangladesh under Dystopia + residual that they rose above India. In their over enthusiasm, they awarded such high marks to Nepal that it reached a rank of 78^th where it hardly belongs.

India finds itself behind Pakistan and Bangladesh, and also behind countries like Mali and Liberia, but then that was because Mali and Liberia were artificially granted huge points viz 2.070 and 1.869 respectively under the category of Dystopia + residual, otherwise they were at the bottom without the grace marks provided under Dystopia + residual.

The data for this happiness index 2023 is available in the excel sheet format at this link.

The relevant page containing the above data is this and this.

So, my conclusion is, this world happiness Index is a bogus ranking. It is hogwash, it is fraud. It should not be taken seriously. The people behind this ranking are taking people for a ride by creating a list that is based on dubious data where opinions of a few hundred people are used to brand an entire nation as happy or unhappy. When even that does not serve their purpose, they further move nations up or down the list by arbitrarily increasing or decreasing their marks in the column of dystopia + error which itself is a column created to manipulate the rankings.

Gallup methodology of poll shows that they take a poll of a few hundred people without doing any due diligence to ensure that their polls follows the principles of sampling. In a country like India, whose population is more than that of any continent (other than Asia), a truly representative sampling would run into at least 25 thousand people, may be a few lakhs, and it would take elaborate preparation and vast expenditure on the scale of Indian elections opinion polls. I do not think Gallup have bothered to spend so much time, money and effort while carrying out their polls in India, if at all they have bothered to carry it out. Had they done this exercise in India, this would have been a vast exercise and we would have known about it. But we do not know anything about it. So most likely, their poll in India has been an eyewash. Few people seem to have questioned their methodology. Most people interested in Indian affairs seem to have blindly believed this happiness ranking and they have used this ranking to bash the Indian government or it has been used to troll India and Indians.

Based on the above discussion, I feel that the world Happiness Index is not worth the paper it is printed on. Indians should stop giving credence to it because plainly speaking it is nothing but a fraud that has successfully been perpetrated for over a decade by now. Forget Indians, people worldwide should also question the people behind this Index. So far they have managed to avoid scrutiny and have continued on their own merry ways.

I hope readers will now gain some insight into the mechanism of this so called World Happiness Index. The creators of this index decide the ranking beforehand and then they artificially award points under the column of Dystopia + residual. It is the most corrupt methodology to make a list.

I have not yet analysed press freedom index, democracy index, human rights index etc. There too India is ranked low behind countries that have now press freedom, no democracy and no human rights. When I analyse them, I am sure I will find similar gory details there as well.

I have mentioned in the beginning of the post that I am by nature a happy person. My guess is that most readers of this blog are also like me. I feel that music lovers are by nature well adjusted people who find it easy to stay happy most of the time. Even our film songs are no different. In almost all movies of golden era, we had happy joyuos songs where actors would be seen singing and dancing, often for no apparent reasons. On other occasions, they are singing and dancing because it is some festival/ celebration. Indians have so many festivals, and so many occasions of celebration. And all those occasions finds people singing and dancing. If that does not count towards happiness index, that is the problem of the index makers. Indians are more happy than the Happiness Index makers can ever imagine.

Here is a happy song from a movie called “Dil Ka Raja”(1972).

‘Dil Ka Raaja-1972’ was produced by A K Nadiadwala and directed by P. Madhwan for ‘Nadiadwala Associates, Bombay’. The movie had Raj Kumar, Leena Chandavarkar, Ajit, Bindu, Jagdeep, Indrani Mukherjee, Randhir, Meena T., Sheikh, Surendra Rahi, Manjeet, Omkar, Pandit Iqbal, Jankidas, Uma Dutt, Rajesh, Maqbool, Master Anil, Master Ripple, and Waheeda Rehman (in special appearance) etc in it.

The movie had five songs in it. Two songs have been covered in the past.

While looking for a joyous song to go with this post on World Happiness ranking, I came across that song. I realised that I had last heard this song in 1972, when this song was quite a popular song. I loved this song, though I had no inkling which movie this song was from. Now more than half a century later, I find myself getting reunited with this song, like how it happens in a Manmohan Desai movie.

The song is sung by Rafi, Asha Bhonsle and Manna Dey. It is picturised as a joyous dance song on Raj Kumar (double role of father and son, Leena Chandawarkar and Jagdeep plus another person that I could not identify. I request our knowledgeable readers to identify the unidentified person. What a wonderfully lively and joyous song ! Enjoy !

Song-Jin ke paas haathhi ghoda un ke paas dil hai thhoda (Dil ka raaja) (1972) Singers-Rafi, Asha Bhonsle, Manna Dey, Lyrics-Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD-R D Burman
Chorus
All together

Lyrics

jinke pas haathi ghoda
un ke paas dil hai thhoda
are tum se thhoda
aaha
ke dil ka badshah
aaha
koi tum sa kahaan
aha
kahe saara jaahaan
ho rajaji ee
jinke pass haathi ghoda
un ke paass dil hai thhoda
are tum se thhoda
aaha
ke dil ka badshah
aaha
koi tum sa kahaan
aaha
kahe saara jaahan
ohh raajaji ee ee ee

yoon to kehne sun’ne ko hum bhi hain jawaan
tumse naujawaan kaun hoga
itna(?) sakhi daata ke jaise Bhagwaan
aisa to yahaan kaun hoga
ho o
chaandi ka
sone ka dil tumhaara
aaha
ke dil ka baadshah
aha
koi tumsa kahaan
aha
kahe saara jahaan
o raaja jee ee ee ee

jis ne maanga aangan
diya hai tumne gaaon
jaane raaja saari nagariya
ho o o
laakhon ke liye leke thhandi thhandi chhaanv
tani hai tumhaari chadariya
ho ho ho
laakhon ka aangan hai dil tumhaara
aha
ki dil ka baadshah
aha
koi tumsa kahaan
aaha
kahe saara jahaan
ho rajaji ee ee
ho jinke pass hathi ghoda
unn ke pass dil hai thhoda
are tum se thhoda
aaha
ke dil ka badshah
aaha
koi tum sa kahaan
aaha
kahe saara jahaan
ho ohh rajaji

o o o
o o o o
o o o o o
o jinke paas haathi ghoda
un ke paas dil hai thhoda
are tum se thhoda
aaha
ke dil ka badshah
aaha
koi tum sa kahaan
aaha
kahe saara jaahaan
o raaja jee