Consider the following statements regarding World Happiness Report – 2024 : A. India ranked 126th out of more than 140 countries, which is lower than its neighbouring countries including China, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. B. India’s ranking has remained relatively stagnant over the years, indicating limited progress in improving the overall happiness and well-being of its population. Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
- (1)Only A
- (2)Only B
- (3)Both A and B
- (4)Neither A nor B
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Only B.
Statement A joins a correct rank to a wrong comparison. India was 126th in the World Happiness Report 2024, out of 143 countries. But Sri Lanka (128th) and Bangladesh (129th) ranked below India, not above it.
China (60th), Nepal (93rd), Pakistan (108th) and Myanmar (118th) did rank above India. Because A places all six neighbours ahead of India, it is incorrect.
Statement B is correct as per RPSC's key. India was 139th in 2021, 136th in 2022 and 126th in both 2023 and 2024. In each of these reports it stayed in the lowest-ranked fifth of countries, and its 2024 rank was unchanged from 2023.
Only B holds, so the answer is option (2), Only B.
The idea to remember: check every country in a list of neighbours. One country on the wrong side of India makes the whole comparison false.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Only A — A is not correct. India's rank of 126th is right, but the comparison fails for two of the six neighbours: Sri Lanka was 128th and Bangladesh 129th, both below India.
The part of A that holds is narrower: China, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar ranked above India in 2024. This code also rejects B, which RPSC's key accepts.
- (3)Both A and B — B is correct, but A is not.
A says India ranked lower than all six neighbours it names. In the 2024 report Sri Lanka (128th) and Bangladesh (129th) ranked below India (126th), so the comparison is false and this code cannot stand.
- (4)Neither A nor B — A is incorrect, but this code also rejects B, which RPSC's key treats as correct.
India's ranks across four reports were 139, 136, 126 and 126 (2021 to 2024). Each time it sat in the lowest-ranked fifth of countries, and the 2024 rank repeated 2023's.
Concept
The World Happiness Report ranks countries by life evaluations. People rate their own lives on a ladder from 0 (worst possible life) to 10 (best possible life), using data from the Gallup World Poll averaged over three years.
The report explains differences between countries with six factors: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
The report is published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board. In 2024 Finland ranked first and Afghanistan last among 143 countries.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Happiness Index" under Human Resource and Economic Development, next to the Human Development Index.
Each edition ranks a different number of countries, so India's rank needs its total alongside it: 126 of 137 in 2023, 126 of 143 in 2024.
Among India's neighbours, in 2024 Sri Lanka and Bangladesh sat just below India, while Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal and China were above it.
Key facts
- The World Happiness Report 2024 ranked 143 countries; India was 126th, Finland 1st and Afghanistan 143rd.
- In the 2024 report China (60), Nepal (93), Pakistan (108) and Myanmar (118) ranked above India; Sri Lanka (128) and Bangladesh (129) ranked below.
- India's rank was 139 of 149 in 2021, 136 of 146 in 2022, 126 of 137 in 2023 and 126 of 143 in 2024.
- Rankings rest on life evaluations on a 0–10 ladder, taken from the Gallup World Poll.
- Six factors explain the scores: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
Source: World Happiness Report 2024, data for Figure 2.1.
Study next
Common traps
- A list of neighbours is only as true as its weakest member. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ranked below India in 2024, so a statement placing all six above India is false.
- Each edition ranks a different number of countries (149, 146, 137, 143 from 2021 to 2024). The same rank of 126 left 11 countries below India in 2023 but 17 in 2024.
- The World Happiness Report ranks life evaluations and is published from Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre; the Human Development Report is UNDP's and ranks the HDI. Keep the two indices apart.
An index question can ask India's rank in a named edition, which country topped the list, or how India compares with its neighbours.
A question can pair a correct rank with a comparison or a trend claim in one statement.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023, 2021 and 2016 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the World Happiness Report 2024, which of the following countries ranked below India?
- (a)Nepal
- (b)Pakistan
- (c)Bangladesh
- (d)China
Answer(3) — Bangladesh was 129th, below India's 126th. Option (1) Nepal was 93rd, option (2) Pakistan 108th and option (4) China 60th, all above India. - practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following is NOT one of the six factors the World Happiness Report uses to explain countries' life evaluations?
- (a)Social support
- (b)Healthy life expectancy
- (c)Literacy rate
- (d)Perceptions of corruption
Answer(3) — The six factors are GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption. Options (1), (2) and (4) are among them; literacy rate is not.