Botswana again amongst the world’s unhappiest countries – report
FRANCISTOWN: The 2024 World Happiness Report (WHR) shows that Botswana is one of the unhappiest countries in the world having fallen five places from the previous year’s rankings. In 2023, Botswana was ranked 132 in the WHR out of 143 countries in the world but is now ranked 137 out of 143 countries in the world happiest (unhappiest) countries, 2024, in the world.
Botswana ranks below countries that were plagued by coups in Africa such as Mali (109), Chad (113) and Mali (122) in the WHR of 2024.
Finland is still the happiest place on Earth but Britain and the US have both become more miserable, according to a global review. The Scandinavian nation, home to 5.5 million people, has now held the accolade for seven consecutive years. Afghanistan, meanwhile, once again is at the bottom of the WHR. Britain dropped one spot to 20th, placing it below the likes of Lithuania and Czechia, while the US plunged eight places to 23rd. Experts also claimed the data showed a worrying trend of younger adults in Europe and North America experiencing the equivalent of a ‘mid-life crisis’. Now in its 12th year, the UN-sponsored report is based on assessments of happiness from tens of thousands of people, as well as economic and social data. It gives a happiness score on a scale of zero to 10, based on an average score over a three-year period. Finland was given 7.74 out of 10, while Afghanistan got 1.72. For comparison, Britain’s score was 6.72. The US score was marginally lower, seeing it drop out of the top 20 since the report started in 2012.
Analysts said this was mainly driven by a decline in wellbeing amongst under-30s, with this year’s report the first to have broken down results by age group. The US was ranked 62nd in terms of happiness amongst younger people. Amongst the old defined as in over-60s, the US came 10th. It scored 42nd for younger middle-aged people and 17th for older middle-aged. In comparison, Britain scored 32nd for youth, 27th for younger middle-aged people and 19th for older middle-aged people and 20th for older people. Lithuania (19th overall) has the happiest younger people in the global rankings while Denmark’s (2nd overall) old people were the happiest on Earth.
Between generations, analysts found people born before 1965 are typically happier than those born after 1980. Millennials’ happiness was also observed to drop each year. In contrast, boomers’ life satisfaction has increased with age.
Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, an expert in economics and behavioural science at the University of Oxford and editor of the report said; “Piecing together the available data on the wellbeing of children and adolescents around the world, we documented disconcerting drops, especially in North America and Western Europe. To think that, in some parts of the world, children are already experiencing the equivalent of a mid-life crisis demands immediate policy action.”
Eight of the 10 happiest nations were found in Europe, with Denmark scooping second place, at 7.58 points, about the same score the Scandinavian country had last year.
Iceland took third. Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia rounded out the top 10.
War-scarred Afghanistan and Lebanon remained the two unhappiest countries on earth with scores of 1.72 and 2.70, respectively.
Third unhappiest was the landlocked African nation of Lesotho at 3.18. Other significant changes included Costa Rica returning to the top 20 after a three-year break. This year’s report marks the first since the conflict between Israel and Hamas started in 2023. Israel (5th) scored 7.34, far above Palestine (103rd) which scored about 4.88. Both countries experienced a decline in the global league tables for happiness.