Albania is one of the unhappiest countries in Europe, ranking 91 out of 146 countries surveyed with an average happiness evaluation of 5.2 out of 10, according to data published by the United Nations in the World Happiness Index.
The World Happiness Report is compiled annually as a part of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and is based on a survey of 1,000 individuals in each country. Respondents are asked to rank how happy they are based on indicators such as per capita income, health, support from friends and relatives, freedom to make choices, and perceived levels of corruption.
Albania fell one place from 2021 to 2022 meaning citizens have become more unhappy over the last 12 months.
Only North Macedonia (92), Turkey (102) and Georgia (106) fared worth than the EU hopeful. Neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro improved by four places each, ranking 63rd and 71st respectively. Serbia fell four places from 43 to 47 in this year’s index.
Individuals are asked questions such as “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you when you need it?”, or “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the freedom to choose what you want to do in life?”.
Globally, kindness is around 25% higher than it was in pre-pandemic years.
“Kindness toward others, especially helping strangers, which increased dramatically in 2021, remained high in 2022,” said John Helliwell, one of the authors of the report.
“Even during these difficult years, positive emotions have remained twice as prevalent as negative ones, and feelings of positive social support twice as strong as those of loneliness,” Helliwell said in a news release.
For the sixth year in a row, Finland is the happiest country in the world, with other nordic countries such as Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway all performing well.
The least happy country is Afghanistan, preceded by Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.
Neighbouring Kosovo, however, is ranked as one of the happiest coming in at number 34.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
