New York: Finland has topped the list of happiest countries in the world for the seventh time in a row. The list according to the annual UN World Happiness Report is dominated by the Nordic countries of Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list of 143 countries. For the first time, the U.S. and Germany dropped out of the top 20 countries. Both countries are ranked 23rd and 24th respectively. Costa Rica and Kuwait made it to the top 20 countries. Kuwait's position is 13. India is ranked 126th in the list. The rank was the same last year.
Jennifer De Pavla, a happiness researcher at the University of Helsinki, found that a strong connection with nature and a healthy work-life balance put Finland at the top of the happiness list. Corruption rate is very low in Finland. Health and education sector is also strong.
India has the second largest elderly population in the world. 140 million people in India are 60 years of age or above. Marital relationship, social attitudes and physical health are the determinants of life satisfaction of the older generation in India. Living conditions are the most important of them.