March 21: The World Happiness Report 2024 released on Wednesday has put Nepal in the 93rd position out of 143 countries included in the list.

Finland ranks first with the highest score in the list for the seven consecutive years.

"The top 10 countries have remained much the same since before COVID. Finland is still in top, with Denmark now very close, and all five Nordic countries in the top 10,” states the report prepared in partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The report noted that there have been some changes in the rankings below the top 10, with the transition countries of Eastern Europe rising in happiness index (especially Chechnya, Lithuania and Slovenia). The United States and Germany have fallen to 23 and 24 in the rankings, added the report.

The report stated that life satisfaction drops gradually from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood in most countries. Globally, young people aged 15-24 still report higher life satisfaction than older adults.

"But this gap is narrowing in Western Europe and recently reversed in North America due to falling life satisfaction among the young. Conversely, in Sub-Saharan Africa life satisfaction has increased among the young." Overall, globally, young people aged 15-24 experienced improved life-satisfaction between 2006 and 2019, and stable life satisfaction since then. -- RSS