World happiness has plummeted in the last 50 years – at least according to a report released on Saturday, the Happy Planet Index (HPI) 2.0, compiled by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), an independent British thinktank. China ranked 20th in the report, up from 33rd place last year.

According to the analysis provided by the NEF, OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) members’ HPI scores plunged between the 1960s and the late 1970s. Although there have been some economic gains since then, contrary to predictions, HPI scores were still higher in 1961 than in 2009.

Life satisfaction and life expectancy combined have increased 15 percent over that period, but it has come at an earth-shattering cost – a per capita ecological impact on the planet by human beings that has increased by 72 percent. While the GDP of the US has increased by 150 percent since the 1950s, ironically, its HPI rating was still among the lowest of all countries surveyed.

The report also revealed a surprising picture of the relative wealth and progress of nations. It showed that Costa Rica topped the Happy Planet Index 2.0, as Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the Americas (second only to Canada). They have an ecological footprint small enough that the country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of “one-planet living”: consuming its fair share of the earth’s natural resources.

The top 10 countries in the report are not the richest nations but middle-income countries in Latin America, Asia or the Caribbean where there is a high level of life satisfaction and a low carbon footprint. In the meantime, the US was ranked 114th, Canada 89th and Australia 102nd. Zimbabwe and other poor African nations, where life expectancy and happiness is low, came in last.

Rather than measure Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the HPI measures life expectancy, happiness and the environmental impact of different nations. Levels of life satisfaction, calculated from a worldwide poll, were not necessarily high in rich countries where violence and inequality continue to be a problem. Instead of being purely a measure of which countries in the world are happiest, the HPI is best conceived of as a measure of the environmental efficiency of supporting well-being in a given country.

Today, GDP and GNP are some of the standard economic measurements widely used all over the world. However, the changing situation has compelled economists and policymakers to think beyond GDP and other well-established quantitative measurements. A lot of policies were made based on the requirements of economic development, while the environment was rarely considered.

An obvious question comes to mind: What is the ultimate goal of human life? Everyone wants to be happy, and happiness is certainly a missing factor in economic measurements like GDP and GNP. These well-established measurements are unable to define the level of happiness we attain through our economic growth and development. And certainly, economic growth gained at the cost of the environment can’t bring happiness to a country.

A fast-growing GDP cannot guarantee satisfaction with life. Life expectancy and a healthy ecosystem are the keys to making a country happy.

Source: Global Times