The pandemic’s worst effect has been the two million deaths from Covid-19 in 2020.
CAPE TOWN, March 19 (ANA) – Unlike the previous years, the World Happiness Report for 2021 focused on the effects of the pandemic and how people have performed during this time.
The report is organised by the UN. Rankings were reached with data from the Gallup World Poll and numerous surveys.
In each country, about 1,000 respondents were asked to rate the quality of their lives on a scale of zero to 10, how many times they have laughed or felt satisfaction.
Negative factors that affected people’s well-being during the pandemic included trust, death, weakened economies and losing livelihoods.
Some of the positive factors included exercise, gratitude, caring for a pet or focusing on a personal goal.
“The pandemic’s worst effect has been the two million deaths from Covid-19 in 2020. A rise of nearly 4% in the annual number of deaths worldwide represents a serious social welfare loss.
“For the living, there has been economic insecurity, anxiety, disruption of every aspect of life, and challenges to mental and physical health,” according to the United Nations.
Finland ranked as the happiest country in the world, this year’s report showed, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
African countries made up most of the bottom 20 on the rankings.
Zimbabwe was listed second last, followed by Afghanistan.
The research also found that most developed countries saw a large immediate decline in mental health after the pandemic outbreak compared with previous years.
While well-being focuses on the experience of the living, if we are to judge the overall welfare of a country, we must also consider how long people live, said the UN.
The UN said this was important when evaluating policy change and comparing how different countries are doing.
“People want to live well, and they want to live long. Therefore, we should judge a society by the extent to which it enables people to experience lives that are long and full of well-being,” the UN said.
The International Day of Happiness is celebrated annually on March 20.
The day recognises the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher