Rather than using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an economic measure of progress, the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan instead famously considers its Gross National Happiness. (The featured image is by eflon)
This got us wondering. Its Himalayan setting undoubtedly makes Bhutan an attractive place to visit. But are its people happy? And, looking at the bigger picture, do happier countries make better places to visit?
To be anywhere near answering such weighty questions, we first have to find out which countries have happy populations, and which, if any, don’t.
That’s where a London-based nonpartisan think tank comes in. Every year the Legatum Institute gathers data from 12 sources in order to rank countries on their happiness (they call it prosperity, but for our purposes it’s the closest thing to a definition of happiness we could find).
Of course, at this point it’s important to note that Legatum’s Prosperity Index is far from perfect. Anything so complex – it deals with 89 variables in eight realms: economy, entrepreneurship, governance, education, health, safety, personal freedom and social capital – never will be. But it’s still a good place to start.
So what are the top and bottom 10 countries according to Legatum?
TOP 10 HAPPIEST COUNTRIES
10 LEAST HAPPY COUNTRIES
133) Ethiopia
134) Yemen
135) Zimbabwe
136) Togo
137) Burundi
138) Haiti
139) Chad
140) Afghanistan
141) Congo (DR)
142) Central African Republic
Unfortunately, Bhutan doesn’t feature in the index. We’re not sure why, but it might be because there isn’t enough data on the country for it to be included in the analysis.
We reckon the Prosperity Index doesn’t tell us much more than we already knew. Pushed to rank countries by their happiness, we’d probably have put western Europe near the top and war-torn nations near the bottom. But it’s interesting to see that neither the US nor the UK make the top ten.
What do you think? Have you been to any of the countries in the top ten and/or bottom ten? Did you find the people in those countries happy? Did the happiness of the local population have an affect on how much you enjoyed your trip? We’d love to know – Tweet us, or comment below.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
