Even before the Taliban rose to power last August, Afghanistan was the world’s unhappiest country. According to a so-called World Happiness Report released on the eve of the United Nations-designated International Day of Happiness on Sunday, this is the case.
Afghanistan was placed worst out of 149 countries questioned in the yearly report, with a happiness rate of only 2.5. Lebanon was ranked as the world’s second saddest country, followed by Botswana, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.
With a 7.8 score, Finland took first place for the fourth year in a row, followed by Denmark and Switzerland, with Iceland and the Netherlands rounding out the top five.
After three years of data analysis, researchers ranked the countries. They looked at a variety of factors, including GDP per capita, social safety nets, life expectancy, freedom to make life decisions, population generosity, and views of internal and foreign corruption.
Afghanistan performed poorly in all six categories, much as it had done prior to the Taliban’s resumption to power. According to findings by the US special inspector general for Afghanistan, the country was occupied by the US for 20 years, during which time Washington alone spent $145 billion on development.
Even still, there were signs of growing despondency.
Gallup conducted a study in 2018 and concluded that only a small percentage of Afghans polled were optimistic about the future. In fact, the vast majority expressed a lack of optimism for the future.
Years of war, corruption, grinding poverty, and a lack of jobs have devastated Afghans.
Masoud Ahmadi, a carpenter, returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan after the Taliban’s fall in 2001, with high expectations for the future.
He fantasised about starting a modest furniture workshop with a staff of up to ten employees. Instead, he said he only opens twice a week due to a lack of employment, as he sat in his dusty six-foot by 10-foot workshop on Saturday.
“When the money arrived in this country, the government leadership seized it and counted it as their personal money, and the people were not helped to improve their lives,” Ahmadi remarked.
The country’s economy has been in free collapse since the Taliban retook power in August, exacerbated by US sanctions and diplomatic and financial isolation. As it tries to recover an economy devastated by decades of conflict and foreign operations, the Taliban has urged the world community to recognise its new administration.
