BPS Calls Bengkulu The Second Lowest Out Of 34 Provinces On The Happiness Index

Illustration - Coalition to save the west coast of Sumatra holds an action in front of the Bengkulu Governor's office. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bengkulu Province stated that of 34 provinces in Indonesia, Bengkulu Province was in the second-lowest position with a Happiness Index of 69.74 percent.

Head of Bengkulu Province BPS Win Rizal said that when compared to 2017, the Bengkulu Province Happiness Index fell by around 0.18 percent.

"The Happiness Index is not assessed from an economic point of view, if the economy is good, it does not necessarily describe a person's comfort and happiness," Rizal said in Bengkulu, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 4.

Happiness Index assessment is a measure of three dimensions, namely the dimension of life satisfaction, the dimension of the meaning of life, and the dimension of feeling.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the average Happiness Index for all provinces in Indonesia has decreased compared to 2017.

The decline in the Happiness Index in Indonesia, especially Bengkulu Province, is because people's thoughts and feelings are filled with worry about the existence of COVID-19.

Anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic has finally spread to education, work, health services, and others.

"Actually, the Bengkulu figure is not too far away, 69.84 percent, and the highest happiness index is 76.34 percent, namely in North Maluku Province," he said.

The five regions in Indonesia with the highest Happiness Index are North Maluku Province 76.34 percent, North Kalimantan Province 76.33 percent, Maluku Province 76.28 percent, Jambi Province 75.17 percent and North Sulawesi 74.96 percent.

And the area with the lowest happiness index is West Java Province 70.23 percent, West Nusa Tenggara Province 69.98 percent, Papua Province 69.87 percent, Bengkulu Province 69.74 percent and the lowest is Banten Province 68.08 percent.