KATHMANDU: Nepal finds itself placed at the 93rd rank among 143 countries in the 2024 World Happiness Report, unveiled recently.

Topping the list for the seventh consecutive year is Finland, with Denmark closely trailing behind, and all five Nordic countries securing positions within the top 10.

Notably, the rankings for the top 10 countries have seen little change since pre-COVID times.

However, the subsequent 10 positions have witnessed more fluctuations, with Eastern European transition countries such as Chechnya, Lithuania, and Slovenia notably ascending in happiness levels.

Consequently, the United States and Germany have slipped to the 23rd and 24th spots, respectively, in the rankings, partly due to these shifts.

The report sheds light on the trajectory of life satisfaction across different age groups and regions.

It indicates a gradual decline in life satisfaction from childhood through adolescence into adulthood in most nations.

Despite this trend, globally, young people aged 15-24 continue to report higher life satisfaction compared to older adults, although this gap is narrowing in Western Europe and has recently reversed in North America due to a decline in satisfaction among the young.

Conversely, in Sub-Saharan Africa, life satisfaction among the youth has been on the rise.

The report underscores that, on a global scale, young people aged 15-24 have experienced improved life satisfaction between 2006 and 2019, with stability in satisfaction levels since then.