Albania was ranked penultimate in Europe in the Happiness Index 2022, a publication of the United Nations (UN), which is published in the framework of the day of happiness which is March 20.

Albania was ranked 90th out of 146 countries in total, while among European countries it leaves behind Turkey, which is in 112th place.

Northern Macedonia is slightly ahead of Albania in 89th place. Bosnia and Herzegovina is in 67th place, Montenegro is 75th. Serbia is one of the 10 countries in the world that has had the highest improvement, ranking 43rd.

In contrast to the Albanians of Albania, the Albanians of Kosovo are ranked the happiest people in the region and among the happiest in the world, ranking 32nd, almost the same as the Italians and Spaniards.

The Happiness report is based on an annual survey, which asks about 1000 individuals in about 150 countries of the world, who are asked to rank, from 1 to 10, to see if they are living well or not. (Albania has received 5,199 points this year).

Indicators on which the index is based take into account per capita income, expectations for a healthy life, support from friends and relatives, data on charity, freedom to make choices in life and perceived levels of corruption.

Researchers have used six indicators to understand the results: Gross Domestic Product per capita, expectation for a healthy life at birth, support from friends and relatives, charity, freedom to make choices in life, and perceived levels of corruption.

Individuals are asked questions by the Gallup Institute such as "If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends where you can count on to help you when you need it?", Or "Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the freedom to choose what you want to do in life? ”. Another question is "Have you donated money to charity in recent months?" Perceptions of corruption are also taken from the Gallup poll for two questions: "Is corruption widespread in government or not?" and "Is Corruption Pervasive in Businesses?" These questions are combined with other indicators, such as per capita purchasing power parity data published by the World Bank and World Health Organization data on the expectation of a healthy birth life.

After the pandemic, the good news is that in this year’s report there is an improvement in the perception of happiness in the world.

For the fifth year in a row, Finland is the happiest country in the world.

The Nordic country and its neighbors, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland all have very good results in the indicator that the report uses to explain its findings: healthy longevity, GDP per capita, social support in difficult times, corruption of low and high social trust, generosity in a community where people care about each other and freedom to make key life decisions.

Denmark is in second place in this year’s ranking, followed by Iceland in third place. Sweden and Norway are in seventh and eighth place respectively.

Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg rank 4th to 6th, Israel ranks 9th and New Zealand closes the top 10.

Canada (No. 15), the United States (No. 16) and the United Kingdom (No. 17) all entered the top 20.

According to the report, anxiety and stress subsided in the second year of the pandemic.

"For young people, life satisfaction has decreased, while for those over 60 it has increased - with few general changes," according to the report.

The polls on which this year's happiness ranking was based were conducted long before Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are in the last half of the world ranking for happiness in the 2022 report, with Ukraine in 98th place and Russia in 80th place.

In 146th place, Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list in the 2022 report, "a strong reminder of the material and non-material damage that war does to its many victims," ??said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, the report's editor.

The current war in Ukraine means that happiness in other parts of the world may also fade.

(Source: Monitor)