India ranked at 122 out of 155 countries in the World Happiness Report 2017, four place below its previous rank of 118. 
The report was released on 20th March 2017 at the United Nations at an event celebrating International Day of Happiness.
After ranking fourth for the last two years, Norway emerged at the top, displacing three-time topper Denmark for the first time. Denmark dropped to second place, followed by Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and Sweden (which tied for ninth place), according to the latest World Happiness Report.
The US came in 14th place, dropping one place. Germany came in 16th place for the second time, while the United Kingdom moved up four spots to 19th place and Russia moved up seven spots to 49th place. Japan moved up two spots to 51st place, while China moved up four spots to 79th place.
The bottom five countries on the list where people are the unhappiest are Burundi (154), Tanzania (153), Syria (152), Rwanda (151) and the Central African Republic (155).
The happiness rankings are based on six factors:
- GDP per capita,
- healthy years of life expectancy,
- social support (as measured by having someone to count on in times of trouble),
- trust (as measured by a perceived absence of corruption in government and business),
- perceived freedom to make life decisions,
- Generosity (as measured by recent donations).
The report also points out that happiness is falling in the US, primarily due to social causes rather than economic. The four social variables all deteriorated—the US showed less social support, less sense of personal freedom, lower donations, and more perceived corruption of government and business.
The overwhelming importance of having a job for happiness is a major factor, and holds across all of the world’s regions. When considering the world’s population as a whole, people with a job evaluate the quality of their lives much more favorably than those who are unemployed.
The data also shows that rising unemployment negatively affects everyone, even those still employed.
Ranking of Happiness 2014-2016 (top 10)
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10. Sweden
Source: The Mint