Kenya’s happiness dropped this year compared to last year according to The World Happiness Report 2022, an indicator of global happiness.
The country was ranked 119 out of 150 assessed countries. This means that Kenyans are getting unhappier as the year progresses.
For the 10th year now, Globe Happiness Reflect conducted the annual global survey and ranked the happiness of countries based on reports of the respondents’ assessments on their own lives.
The report was released on March 18, two days before International Happiness day, by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The results are based on the average of data collected over three years.
The research looked at articles on national happiness, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Life Expectancy, and other elements that influence the quality of life.
Kenya’s drop in happiness was attributed to the increase of hardship seen during the start of 2022.
As the country heads towards general elections, citizens are battling inflation, high fuel prices, and a general increase in the cost of living.
In the past surveys, the country ranked 121 for three years consecutively from 2019 to 2021.
Uganda was the only East African country happier than Kenya at position 117 in the recent report.
Other neighbouring countries were ranked lower than the two. Ethiopia was ranked 130, Burundi 137, Tanzania 139, and Rwanda 144.
More African countries ranked lowest were Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, and Sierra Leone which were all in the bottom ten.
Finland was named the happiest country for the fifth time in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
“In addition to low crime rates, a beautiful natural environment, a strong sense of community and cooperation and universal health care, Finland is believed to be a happy nation.”
Afghanistan was named the saddest country in the world for the second year in a row. In a different report, it was also ranked among some of the most dangerous countries to visit in 2022.
