India is the unhappiest nation in South Asia: Pakistan is the happiest!

Happiness is the crux of life. You may have wealth, you may have health, you may have youth, but if there is no happiness, it is not a life at all! People of a country boast that they are the most developed nation in a region. But even if they have achieved a lot in terms of economy or growth, if the people of the nation are unhappy, it is a big failure of the government and that culture! 

South Asia [Source: Wikitravel]

South Asia has 8 countries in it and it includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Let us take a look at and compare the happiness index, corruption rate, religiousness, and economy of these nations. 

Have a look at the table below: 

South Asian Country	Irreligious estimated % 2020*	Happiness index world ranking 2020@	Corruption perception index world ranking 2019#	Poorest country world ranking 2019 $
Afghanistan	9	153	16	16
Bangladesh	19	107	26	49
Bhutan	2	97	68	80
India	5	144	41	68
Maldives	0	87	130	66
Nepal	<1	92	34	28
Pakistan	6	66	32	54
Sri Lanka	<1	130	38	99

*=2020 World Population Review, @=UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, #=Berlin-based Transparency International Report, a score of 50-100 is less corrupt and 0-50 is more corrupt, $=International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook October 2019

The findings and data analysis

One can see that the most irreligious people are in Bangladesh in South Asia followed by Afghanistan. After this comes Pakistan followed by India and then Bhutan. Nepal and Sri Lanka have very few irreligious people while Maldives Islands have none. 

If we look at the happiness index of each of these South Asian countries, it can be seen that Pakistan is the happiest country in this region. Here the people are most cheerful. After this come Maldives and Nepal. Next happy nations here are Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. India claims to be the most developed and largest nation in this region but its happiness index is very low. People here are not happy despite the governments and culture boasting a lot of things. If your development does not bring in happiness in the people, it is a failure of administration and development. The last on this list is Afghanistan but the unhappiness here is understandable considering the fact that it is a war-ridden nation. 

Nepal is third happiest in South Asia [Source: Nepali Sansar]

Also, read Religion and poverty, corruption and unhappiness! 

The most corrupt nation is Afghanistan followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Next comes India. All these nations have a score below 50 and this implies that they are the most corrupt countries. But Bhutan and Maldives have a corruption perception score of 68 and 130. Both of these values are above 50 and implies that corruption in these two nations is less. 

The poorest nation in South Asia is Afghanistan followed by Nepal and then Bangladesh. Pakistan, Maldives and India follow next. After this comes Bhutan and the best is Sri Lanka. It is the richest country here in South Asia. 

Conclusions

Thus one can see that India is the unhappiest country in South Asia and its people are less cheerful than their neighbors. 

The data and findings above speak for themselves! 

When any country boasts of development, one can only say this: 

"What you have, other countries also have but maybe to a lesser degree! 

But what other countries have you do not have it, namely True Happiness."

Money can buy anything but can never buy happiness! It comes from the goodness of governance, people, culture, and thinking!