Global Index: Bangladesh happier than India, Sri Lanka

Bangladesh has slipped down five notches in this year's World Happiness Report rankings, but it remains a happier place than India and Sri Lanka.

The country has been ranked 115th among 156 countries surveyed for the report while Sri Lanka and India came in at 116th and 133th positions.

The report was released yesterday ahead of the International Day of Happiness on March 20.

Among the other South Asian countries, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal were placed 75th, 97th and 101st in the rankings. 

The report ranks countries by happiness levels based on six key factors: income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.

Finland is the happiest place on earth, followed by Norway and Denmark, says the report prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative launched by the UN in 2012.

Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia are the other top 10 countries.

Syria, Rwanda, Yemen, Tanzania, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Burundi were at the bottom of the rankings.

This year's Happiness report is the sixth to come out since 2012. The rankings of the happiest countries came from an analysis of data from surveys in 156 countries taken from 2015 to 2017.

The analysis of immigrant happiness was based on surveys of 117 countries covering the years 2005-2015.

Since 2013, the United Nations has been celebrating the International Day of Happiness on March 20 as a way to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.