There were lots of smiles, hugs and happy faces as a group of activists celebrated International Day of Happiness on Kyiv’s main Khreshchatyk Street on March 20.
But the reality behind the expressions of joy is a lot gloomier for most Ukrainians.
According to the 2017 World Happiness Report, published on March 20 by the United Nations, Ukrainians are a lot less happy than they were last year.
Ukraine ranked 132nd out of 155 countries surveyed, according to the report, which gauges a range of factors to calculate a nation’s happiness index. In the 2016 report, Ukraine ranked 123rd.
Ukraine’s happiness ranking has been sinking steadily since 2013, the year before the EuroMaidan Revolution that ousted former President Viktor Yanukovych, when the country ranked 87th in the world.
By the time of the 2015 report, as Russia’s war on Ukraine raged in the Donbas, Ukraine had dropped to 111th. According to the report’s authors, Ukraine has seen some of the steepest declines in happiness in the world over the past decade.
At the happier end of the scale, the Nordic countries take many of the top spots. Norway tops the ranking this year, having risen from 4th place in 2016.
The top five is rounded off by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland. Canada is 7th, the United States 14th, and the United Kingdom 19th.
The report says social factors have a great impact on the level of happiness in a country. As evidence, the report’s authors cite the period of economic development in China, where despite large GDP per capita growth, the level of happiness has been falling.
China’s weak result, 79th place, is explained by rising unemployment and the country’s fraying social safety net, the report says.
In general, Ukraine ranks in happiness in roughly the same place as it does on corruption, national wealth and trust in public institutions — closer to the bottom than to the top.
There is a strong connection in these areas.
The New York Times reports that the study’s authors found that most variation among countries can be explained by six economic and social factors: national wealth, health years of life expectancy, social support, trust, the perceived freedom to make life choices and generosity.
The report can be found here.
