March 20: Nepal ranks top among the South Asian countries in terms of level of happiness, according to the World Happiness Report released by the United Nations.

According to the report released on Friday, Nepal is ranked 84th in the world and top in South Asia, followed by Bangladesh which is ranked 94th and Pakistan (121rd), Sri Lanka (127th), and India (136th). The report shows Afghanistan is the unhappiest country in South Asia as well as the world with its lowest world ranking of 146 among all the surveyed countries.

According to the report, nieghbouring China is ranked 82nd, three places above Nepal.

Meanwhile, Finland has been listed as the happiest country of the world this year as well.

The report states that Finland took the top spot as the happiest country in the world for the fifth year in a row.

Denmark continues to occupy second place, followed by Iceland, Switzerland the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The top ten are rounded out by Sweden, Norway, Israel and New Zealand.

According to the UN, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report, which uses global survey data to report on how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries around the world. However, in 2022, only 146 countries were surveyed.

The UN further says that the World Happiness Report 2022 outlines a bright light in dark times in this troubled period of war and pandemic.

"We found during 2021 remarkable worldwide growth in all three acts of kindness monitored in the Gallup World Poll. Helping strangers, volunteering, and donations in 2021 were strongly up in every part of the world, reaching levels almost 25% above their pre-pandemic prevalence,” said Jeffrey Sachs, adding, “This surge of benevolence, which was especially great for the helping of strangers, provides powerful evidence that people respond to help others in need, creating in the process more happiness for the beneficiaries, good examples for others to follow, and better lives for themselves."

Past reports have looked at the links between people's trust in government and institutions with happiness. The findings demonstrate that communities with high levels of trust are happier and more resilient in the face of a wide range of crises.