Cheer up, dear Pakistanis. In the midst of all our troubles and this new confusion about our identity as a hard or a soft country, we may spy a trace of light on a dark horizon. And I am reporting it on the auspicious day of March 23, which has been designated as Pakistan Day. There is also the unexpected thrill of a big victory in the game of cricket.
Yes, the good news is that Pakistan is judged as a country that is ‘happier’ than some of its neighbours in South Asia. Though we have scored a victory over India in previous years too, there is bound to be an element of surprise as well as joy in how we have been ranked in the World Happiness Report 2025, released on Thursday.
Let me straightaway reveal the actual ranking of Pakistan in relation to other relevant countries before I make an attempt to put things in a proper context. Out of 147 countries on the list, Pakistan is placed at number 109. On the face of it, this is not a matter of any distinction. Not something to shout from the rooftops.
Oh, but India is nine steps behind us at 118. Imagine how unhappy the Indians would be to learn that in a credible international assessment, Pakistanis are happier than them. They would be justified in being mystified by this judgment because hasn’t Pakistan lagged behind in all social and economic development indicators?
Talking about surprises, there is Nepal at 92, matching its geographical status in the Subcontinent. It is up there, above all other South Asian countries. Sri Lanka’s rank is 133 and Bangladesh is just one step behind at 134.
This means that specific measures to judge the happiness of a people are not dictated by more concrete facts of physical development. That is how Pakistan can outperform India and Bangladesh. However, it is obvious that South Asia lags as a region in this happiness index.
The happiness report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre of Oxford University, with the involvement of a few other organisations such as Gallup. Country rankings are based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. For the present report, self-assessed life evaluations averaged from 2022 to 2024.
While I am concentrating on Pakistan and on South Asia, the headlines that the happiness report has made in international media are naturally different. Finland is the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row. Nordic countries are again at the top of the happiness rankings, as they seem to be in many other global surveys.
“Happiness isn’t just about wealth or growth…… it’s about trust, connection and knowing people have your back”, said John Clifton, the CEO of Gallup. “If we want stronger communities and economies, we must invest in what really matters: each other”.
There has been a lot of emphasis on relationships in studies that relate to wellness, a subject that has gained more relevance in the difficult and stressful life that we live in these times. One important point that is made in the happiness report is about sharing meals with others. It supports happiness and social connections.
This reference to sharing meals together provides a good excuse to talk about the low rank of the United States in the 2025 happiness report. It is to be noted that the US has fallen to its lowest-ever position in the happiness ranking. Now it is placed at 24, having previously peaked at the 11th position in 2011. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the US has increased 53 per cent over the past two decades.
As would be expected, it is this aspect of the report that has been highlighted in the American media. This was the headline of The New York Times story on the happiness report: “Americans are unhappier than ever. Solo dining may be a sign”. One may be tempted to link the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House to the finding that the Americans are found to be increasingly miserable but, as I have noted, the report is based on evaluations made from 2022 to 2024.
It would be worthwhile to find the reasons why Pakistan is so much ahead of India and Bangladesh in the happiness report when both countries are distinctly ahead of Pakistan in almost all social indicators. Does our society have some hidden strengths that we should build on? Looking at it superficially, the institution of the family has largely survived.
But more important perhaps is the social support that is provided by the tradition of philanthropy. Pakistanis are also ahead in giving to charity. Look at how Iftar is served so generously for the poor and the underprivileged during this holy month of Ramazan.
But I have no credentials to explain or to even understand the findings of the happiness report. In fact, I see ours as a broken society slipping into the depths of distress and deprivation. This week’s dominant concern, for instance, was the alarming surge in terrorism and insurgency.
On Tuesday, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) was convened to seek consensus to fight terrorism. Imran Khan’s party did not attend this crucial deliberation. In that sense, the campaign against rising militant violence is undermined by a political crisis.
Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, who attended the meeting, was very candid in his remarks, according to a statement released by ISPR. He stressed that governance failures were hampering Pakistan’s ability to counter militancy. “How long will we continue to sacrifice countless lives under the model of a soft state?”, he asked.
What we have, then, is a rather bleak scenario. In this situation, we should be grateful for the brief distraction that the happiness report has provided.
The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: ghazi_salahuddinhotmail.com