Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has announced in its happiness index that Banten province, Jakarta and Papua are among the least happy provinces in Indonesia in 2021.
In Indonesia's happiness index, released recently by the agency, Banten province, which is made up mostly of municipalities bordering the capital city, stood at the bottom of the list with an index of 68.08.
The capital city Jakarta meanwhile came in 17th spot on the list, with an index of 70.68.
Also in the category of provinces with lowest happiness indicators is Papua province, which came in third place from the bottom, with an index of 69.87.
The index has a scale of between 0 and 100, in which the higher the figure, the happier the people. The index this year measures three dimensions – life satisfaction, relationships and life-meaning (eudaimonia) –, while the previous surveys in 2012 and 2014 only measured life satisfaction.
BPS also found that North Maluku and North Kalimantan are the happiest provinces in the country with an index of 76.34 and 76.33 respectively.
In June, during a speech to celebrate Jakarta's 495th anniversary, outgoing Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said that true happiness felt by Jakartans was more important than statistics measuring people's degree of happiness.
"Giving a sense of progress to people is what matters most. If people say that they are grateful for living in Jakarta then that's a job well-done for us," Anies said as quoted by kompas.com.