Afghanistan was the happiest country in the world, even before the Taliban came to power in mid-August. This is revealed in the World Happiness Report released ahead of the United Nations (UN) International Day of Happiness, which falls on Sunday (20/3).
The annual report ranks Afghanistan last among 149 countries surveyed, with a happiness rate of only 2.5.
Lebanon is the second saddest country in the world, followed by Botswana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe who are in the bottom five on the list.
Finland ranked first for the fourth year in a row with a score of 7.8 – followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland and the Netherlands in the top five.
The researchers ranked the countries after analyzing three years of data. They examined several categories, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, social safety nets, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity of the population and perceived levels of internal and external corruption.
Afghanistan performed poorly in all six categories. The results are puzzling because they came before the Taliban returned to power in August, even though the United States and the international community have been investing for 20 years.
According to the report of the US special inspector general for Afghanistan, the US since 2002 has spent 145 billion dollars on development in Afghanistan. Still, there are signs of growing desperation.
Gallup conducted a poll in 2018 and found that few of the Afghans they surveyed had much hope for the future. The majority said they had no hope for the future.
Years of corruption, increasing poverty, lack of work, increasing people living below the poverty line and erratic development, all of which combine to give rise to severe despair), said analyst Nasratullah Haqpal.
Most Afghans had high hopes after 2001, when the Taliban were toppled and the US-led coalition declared victory.
“Unfortunately the only focus is on wars, warlords and corrupt politicians,” Haqpal said.
“People are getting poorer, more disillusioned, more unhappy. That’s why 20 years of investment in Afghanistan collapsed in just 11 days,” he said, referring to the Taliban’s blitz of attacks across the country before sweeping across the Afghan capital, Kabul in mid-August.
The report warns that after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s happiness level may fall further next year. The economy is in dire straits as the group struggles to transition from rebelling to governing. [em/ft]